


Citrus, Lattice, and Lace

by LeoTheCloudKat



Category: Homestuck
Genre: AU- Fantasy, Arranged Marriage, Dersites are Vampires and Prospitians are were-creatures, M/M, Prospit/Derse Royalty AU, Slow Burn, They/Them Hal, Trans Male Character, au- royalty
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:29:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 40,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25428454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeoTheCloudKat/pseuds/LeoTheCloudKat
Summary: There aren’t nearly enough arranged marriage fics for my taste :pensive:As preventative measures to keep the rival kingdoms from tearing each other apart, the king of Derse proposes a marriage between the eldest children of the royal families- that being his firstborn son, Dirk Strider, and the ever-traveling and ever-elusive Jake English.The two of them slowly fall for the other as they get used to each others’ company, but will they be able to stop the Derse King from starting a war and conquering Prospit before the wedding day?[Ongoing- Updates sporadically, will be finished at some point]
Relationships: Jake English/Dirk Strider
Comments: 93
Kudos: 91





	1. The Announcement- A Surprise Engagement

**Author's Note:**

> No beta bc we die like men  
> I think it’s funny that vampires are supposedly these elegant, elusive creatures while Dirk is Not That and were-creatures are stereotyped as aggressive and uncivilized while Jake tries so hard to be a gentleman.  
> That, and I wanted an arranged marriage au

* * *

Dirk is well aware of the fact that the kingdoms are teetering on the edge of war. He’s discussed this several times over with his twin, Halexander, who could not give less of a shit. Neither of them had anticipated that their father would go through with a plan to _stop_ the impending destruction, nor had they taken into consideration the possibility of him using Dirk to get what he wanted. Thinking back on it, Dirk mentally curses himself out for not considering all the options as he’s told what is to happen in less than a months time: the Prospitian prince, Jacob, is to sail to Derse and stay there for half of the year. Then for the other half of the year, Dirk is to sail with him to Prospit. This is supposedly to allow the princes to get to know each other and adjust to the contrasting kingdoms, but Dirk already knows that the king of Derse wants him to exploit the notorious gullibility and kindness of the Prospitians in order to tear them down from the inside. Not that he has a place to refuse, the iron fist of the king is what all three of the princes can’t challenge for fear of each others’ safety.   
  


Jake, however, is less resigned to his fate. He and Jade are fretting over how the conditions will be in the castle of Derse, how to find a way around getting married to a stranger (one who has the terrifying reputation of being not only a master swordsman, but a cold-hearted and cruel man), and the etiquette he needs to know before he arrives. The garb is strange and stiff, not even a zipper or buttons in the back of a plain grey pair of slacks for his tail. Jake takes a minute to run his fingers through his unruly hair, hiding his secondary pair of ears in the dark curls as he frowns at himself in the mirror. _Dersites,_ he scoffs to himself, _clearly have no taste in dress._ The day he is scheduled to arrive is the second of May, which shouldn't be that bad. At least he can figure out how the summer of Derse compares to a sweltering Prospitian one. Besides meeting the prince himself, what Jake dreads the most is the winter. It hardly ever snows in Prospit, perpetually bright and shiny and sunny, beaches warm and waters crystal clear- unlike the frigid Derse winters, biting winds and snowstorms so horrendously bad that they lose months of postage every year. He brings a hand up to his mouth to nervously bite at his jewelry, eyes troubled as a low whining noise pulls itself out of his throat. After a moment of allowing himself to fear and fret, he straightens himself up again and gives himself a steely glare in the mirror.   
  
“No one can hurt you,” he reminds himself, smoothing out the wrinkles in his uncomfortably tight shirt. “They aren’t allowed to lay a hand on you under penalty of death, dear chap, so keep your chin up and don’t let them know that you’re afraid.”  
”Keep your tail and ears tucked safely away so that can’t tell!” Jade pipes up from the doorway, holding two heavy suitcases by their handles with ease. Jake laughs softly, turning on his heel to take them from her. “Yes, of course, I recall the lecture Nana gave us. I promise to write as much as I can and to send you some of the strange flora in the post, yeah?” Jade nods instead of replying, her gaze on the floor and her lips pressed into a tight line. Neither of them much like being separated, but Jake doesn’t plan to let that happen forever. “It’s only a handful of months,” he murmurs gently, wrapping his arms around the taller of the two as she returns the hug. “I promise to write, and you would be wise to do the same,” he half-jokes, refusing to let himself get choked up. “I will,” she sniffles into his shoulder, and there goes his resolve to hold back his tears. He can barely choke back a sob as his ears flatten in his hair, afraid and mourning the loss of his freedom.

Marriage is terrifying, and so is his husband-to-be. They cry in each others’ arms until a guard gently knocks on the door to tell them that their time is up, and Jake has to leave. The ship is nice, at least, the boards creaking pleasantly under his uncomfortable boots as he walks the gangplank up to the deck. Well stocked for the month-long journey between the island kingdom of Prospit and the mountainous inland kingdom of Derse. The time to himself (well, to himself as it can get with a full crew of servants and guards) allows his mind to wander, speculating on how Derse will be. He’s heard tales, of course, but had never once been allowed to visit it. A city of vampires built into the side of massive, craggy mountains, overcast by gloomy clouds as the ocean crashes against the massive walls built from the sea floor up. Criminal hubs, underground tunnels for fights and illegal activities, and a corrupt leadership are all things he’s heard, and his hands tighten against the railing of the ship as the fur on the base of his tail bristles. Good fucking lord, he doesn’t want to go.   
  
And with each day that passes, more and more overcast, his apprehension only grows. By the day of arrival, his nerves are so strenuously taut that he has to bite his hand for a solid minute before he stops quaking. The Derse docks are built from some kind of odd black rock as opposed to wood, and Jake is relieved to find that despite the turbulent waves, solid ground is solid ground under his boots. He was already told that can’t go barefoot in the streets to his utter dismay, the pads on the bottoms of his feet already sore from being in the boots. A cloak is draped around his head and shoulders as a handful of guards escort him through the bustling streets up to the castle. It’s quite the walk, and with each step he grits his teeth a little harder. By the time that he and the guards reach the stairs up to the palace, he has to purposefully unclench his jaw for fear of grinding his teeth down to dull points. For fucks sake, he wishes that he didn’t have to climb stairs in boots. His complaints are completely wiped from his mind the second that the silver palace doors swing inwards to reveal the main hall, the king himself on his throne with his sons to either side of him. Jake swallows thickly as he walks in, the doors closing with a loud thud behind him. He feels trapped under the gaze of the four vampires, the king and the eldest having piercing orange eyes as the two younger have red.   
  
Dirk can tell that the person who walked into the hall is the Prospitian prince, though he’s surprised to see that he has a cloak covering himself. He’s a little disappointed, but his face doesn’t show it. He just observes as the prince walks closer, apprehension written all over his stiff posture and odd gait. Hands much darker than his own reach up out of the folds of the cloak, lifting the hood up and off of his head to reveal a messy mop of brown curls. Large, circular glasses rest on the bridge of his nose, thin gold frames against his dark complexion. And his eyes- startlingly enough, they’re _green,_ which is incredibly rare in and of itself in Derse- but there’s a certain sort of glow about them that makes Dirk’s breath catch in the back of his throat when the prince’s eyes meet his own for a brief second. Then the king speaks up, the strange boy’s attention is turned, and Dirk’s breath returns. It’s going to be a difficult couple of months for all of them, he sighs, resting a hand on the hilt of his sword at his side.


	2. An Awkward Castle Tour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dirk shows Jake around the castle. Awkward questions are exchanged, and Jake discovers what room he’s to be staying in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are very much appreciated 🥺

* * *

Jake thanks whatever god may be watching them that he remembered to tuck his secondary ears into his hair before the meeting with the king and the princes. His tail is tucked into his pants, fur flat against his right leg so that it doesn’t cause trouble for him, ears flattened in his unfortunately unruly hair to keep from giving away how he feels about the predicament he’s been caught in. He may be able to keep a (mostly) calm face and façade going on, but if his tail and ears were to be out, the way his fur is bristling may not have been taken too well. The king, Derek Strider, intimidates Jake more than anyone has ever done so before. A tall, steely-eyed vampire who hardly cares enough to hide his claws- his sons at his side, tactfully avoiding the nervous gaze of the prince in front of them. Jake tried to keep his palms from sweating too much, hands clasped behind his back to hide the fact that his own claws are out in an instinctual bit of self defense. He prays that the king isn’t observing him too closely, shaking from fear and his jaw set so tightly he fears that he may grind his teeth down to dull points. Regardless of how intimidated he may be, however, Jake forces himself to tune back in to what the king is saying. It must be important, and it’s best to pay attention regardless.   
“—and Dirk will show you around the castle and to your quarters. You may as well see the place you’re to stay at,” he states flatly, and Jake gives a stiff bow as he’s dismissed. One of the twins to the right of the king steps forward, his gaze just as sharp as the king, and Jake swallows thickly. This must be Dirk, then. Jake offers his hand so that the prince can guide him, but Dirk doesn’t make a move to take it, so he lets his hand drop with a tense smile. A quick glance of the vampire’s attire before they walk down the hall gives Jake the impression that this man doesn’t quite like dressing formally. The cuffs of his suit are wrinkled as if he was picking at them with the gloved hands that hide the claws that all young vampires have trouble controlling. His boots, with heels that give him at least two more inches of height, are no match for Jake’s natural genetics, which place him at a solid 6’4. If he had to take a gander at the size of the vampire who walks so stiffly next to him, he would have to say maybe 5’10, without the heels.   
“So,” Jake says about halfway through the stiff and awkward silence of the tour, clearing his throat, “I already understand the general layout of the castle, having studied if beforehand on the assumption that I would have to—“

”Anywhere in particular you wanna go, then?” The other boy interrupts, and Jake snaps his jaw shut in surprise. It’s incredibly rude to interrupt someone, but he supposes that this prince must not care too much about what is proper and what clearly isn’t. After all, his posture is terrible and his thumbs are in his pockets. “No, not particularly,” Jake says evenly, giving the vampire prince a calculated look as he replies. Dirk doesn’t hold his stare, orange eyes flitting down to the dark wooden floor- Jake assumes its lacquered- and Jake straightens up a bit. It’s becoming clearer and clearer that the man he's engaged to doesn’t know a thing about Prospitian etiquette, and Jake’s resolve to teach him properly before the poor vampire has to go to Prospit with him only grows. “But if there is a royal garden, I wouldn’t mind giving it a visit.”

Dirk is way out of his depth here. The Prospitian prince smells so strongly of strange woods and the ocean that it’s almost overwhelming, and he’s having a hard time keeping up with the pace. He doesn’t really like to exercise much outside of training, never really caring enough to run laps with Dave. But good fucking god, this guy sure is something. Radiating nervousness, but still managing to have a pretty steady poker face. He’s smug as he mentions the garden, the tone leaking through his words after Dirk looks away. He knew he should’ve actually read up on Prospitian etiquette before the prince came here. He just assumed that the poor thing would be too intimidated to actually keep up with his own customs and mold to Derse’s, not intimidate him and toss him into the deep end of not knowing what the fuck to do. “Okay,” he shoots back, trying to keep the fact that he’s getting a little defensive due to the culture shock out of his tone, “to the garden it is. It’s pretty shit though, nobody gives a damn about upkeep besides a handful of gardners and Hal. He’s my twin, you saw him up by the throne when you first came in. It’s got a lot of dead shit and whatever, nothing really—“

”That’s a bit disappointing, but can we start waking? It’s getting a bit boring just standing here in the hallway,” the prince retorts with a grin that flashes an impressive set of canines, and Dirk falls quiet, nodding and setting off down the hallway. He walks in front of Jake to keep the other from seeing the flush across his face, mentally scolding himself for rambling and getting flustered because the guy has some sharp teeth. 

* * *

By the time the tour is over, the sun had set already, and the moon is high in the sky. A cloudless night, Dirk thinks to himself. Good for Roxy’s stargazing and maybe for some flying around town. Jake seems exhausted though, barely able to keep himself from dragging his feet along the floor as they walk to the rooms. Dirk takes a breath before he puts a hand on the handle and turns to Jake, already steeled against whatever response the were-boy may have. “So. This is my room. But you’re also sleeping in here. Derek wants me to make sure you don’t try to run off or anything, so.. we’re in the same room. If you want a different room I’ll put in a request for you, but I can’t say if it’ll go through or not.” Jake, whose tail was poking out of the bottom of his pants, just gives him a dry, tired look as he straightens up and yawns. “Okay...? I don’t see how that’s a problem. I knew.. I knew that theyd wanna keep an eye on me. Whatever. Just open the door so we can crash, ‘kay? I’m tired.” Dirk nods, completely understanding the fatigue, and opens the door so that Jake can shuffle in. He flops down on the first available bed- Dirk’s bed, but it’s whatever- and doesn’t bother taking off his shoes or stuffy suit before getting comfortable. By the time Dirk is done changing into more casual wear, he can faintly hear Jake snoring through the door of the bathroom.   
He takes a minute to pull his blanket over the sleeping boy, removing the thin wire glasses and setting them on his nightstand before he walks to the window, barefoot. All he's wearing now is a loose tank top and some ripped jeans, setting his feet on the windowsill and shifting into a tiny albino bat before he lets himself fall down and out of his room. It’s been a long, sleepless day, and he’s eager to stretch out his wings and take a nightly ‘stroll.’ Besides, he can catch up with Hal down at the bar they frequent every so often and talk about how his expectations for the Prospitian were way off. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Should I also add ABO dynamics..? It could be a fun little future addition, let me know


	3. Lavender Sheets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dirk and Hal have some drinks, and Jake wakes up to a cloying lavender smell.  
> Edit: I forgot to clarify that I’ll be using they/them pronouns for Hal ~w~’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Every comment I get fuels me. Odds are if you comment about something I’ll write it in vjdkc

Dirk doesn’t like clubbing nearly as much as Hal does. His twin is currently off dancing with some strangers as Dirk sits at the bar, a virgin drink on the rocks -essentially just fancy orange juice with ice- in his hands as he idly taps his nails against the ornate glass. He doesn’t like to wear gloves very often unless they’re his leather fingerless ones that he got as a gift from Dave a few years ago, but he didn’t want the Prospitian boy to think that he didn’t have any manners. He sighs as Hal makes their way over to the bar, bopping their head to the music before pulling out the stool next to Dirk and sitting down. They order some fancy drink Dirk doesn’t care to listen to, leaning their head on his shoulder as they ramble drunkenly on about something. His ears prick when he hears something about the prince, though, tuning back in to Hal’s horny mumbles. 

“—and don’t think I didn’t catch how you were lookin’ at him, man. You’re lucky that you’re a few minutes older or I’d be the one getting engaged to him. What a guy that dog is, huh?  _ Woof.”  _ Dirk snorts and shoves their face away, taking a sip of his drink through a fun little curly straw. “Dude, shut the fuck up. It doesn’t matter who he gets engaged to, it’s still a political thing. He’s probably gonna ditch me for some Prospitian and have an affair regardless of the fact that we’re married, it’s not like we have to fuckin’ consummate the marriage anyways,” Dirk scoffs, idly biting at a piece of ice that fell into his mouth as he downs the rest of the cup. “That’s only for couples who are serious ‘n shit. I don’t even know if he’s gay,” he shrugs, and now it’s Hal’s turn to scoff. They both bicker back and forth until Hal starts to get sleepy, the sun starting to peek over the horizon as they both walk back to the castle. “Hey man, I’ll take him if you don’t,” Hal mumbles as Dirk lays them down in their bed, and Dirk pauses. Apparently a pause is enough to get a snicker out of Hal before they turn on their side, pulling the blankets up over their shoulder. “Knew it, you like him. He’s gots nice ass, ‘course you do.” 

“Shut the fuck up,” Dirk retorts affectionately, stepping towards the door. “Night, man.” 

Jake makes a sleepy noise in the back of his throat as Dirk opens the door to the room, turning his head and blearily trying to rub his eyes open so he can see. His clothes are wrinkled and his hair is unkempt and tangled, a rough night written all over him. Dirk notes the pointed brown ears that poke out of his messy hair before Jake sits up and yawns, drawing attention to his mouth. Dirk has to look away from his fangs again as he moves across the room to get clean clothes, wrinkling his nose at the smell of the bar on the ones he’s wearing. “Your bed smells like lavender,” Jake’s sleep-roughed voice pipes up, and he groans as he stands up and stretches. “It’s not bad, but it definitely doesn’t make me want to get up.” Dirk gives a little laugh at that and turns to watch Jake strip off the layers of the top of his suit, leaning against the windowsill as his eyes roam. Jake has a few tattoos, Dirk notes with a cocked eyebrow- which shouldn’t be that surprising, considering he has the money for them, but the skull on his shoulder is unexpected. “Yeah, everybody has their thing. Apparently I smell like lavender and oranges,” Dirk replies once he remembers that Jake spoke, courteously averting his gaze to the floor once Jake starts fiddling with his belt. “You certainly do have a citrine-esque scent, I will admit. I apologize for being rude yesterday, a trip overseas is hardly ever pleasant.” 

“It’s chill, man, I don’t care. Neither of us signed up to get married to a stranger, I don’t blame you for being rude. Besides, my brothers are pretty fucking mannerless as far as rude goes. You’re fine.” 

He has to take a bit of time to tuck his tail into his pants, continuously glancing over to make sure that the vampire isn't stealing glances. He gives a quick reply before pulling a soft shirt up over his head, all of his things now smelling like lavender as he had left his bag open on the bed. He brings the collar of the shirt up to his nose to take a quick whiff, mouth open a bit to drink in the scent of his fiancé. It’s a gentle, sleepy smell that makes him a little drowsy, so he lets go and clears his throat to remind himself that he isn’t alone in the room. “Is it alright if I go about barefoot? I hate wearing shoes, they’re terribly uncomfortable on my feet,” he asks as he works to tuck his ears into his hair, meeting the sharp eyes of the other boy as he turns and answers. “Sure thing. And don’t worry about how quiet the table is going to be when we go down to eat, everyone’s just scared of the king,” Dirk says as he brushes past Jake to get to the door. 

Jake is quick as he puts his hand on the door frame, thumb catching the door as Dirk starts to open it. He leans down and takes a deep breath against Dirk’s neck, just a quick check to see how the other is doing. Vampires may not have as extensive of an endocrine system set up as were-creatures do, but they still have scents and pheromones that give them away. When Jake pulls back to contemplate the casual, sleepy citrus taste left in his mouth, Dirk stands stock still with his hand still on the doorknob.  _ Almost a kabedon, _ his brain supplies after the brief short-circuit, and he has to wrestle down a nervous laugh. “Sorry about springing that on you so suddenly, chap,” Jake says, incredibly casual, “I just felt the need to check really quick. Off to breakfast we go, then?” Dirk nods, snapping his mouth shut so he doesn’t make the flustered sound that had threatened to erupt from the back of his throat, and they both walk down to the dining hall together. 

Jake is careful not to let his secondary ears ruffle his hair as he hears voices, stepping into view of a long dining table and a chandelier hung high over it. Five people are seated there- the king at the head, the two other princes from the day before, and two others he has yet to meet- and Dirk strides up to sit down between his brothers. Jake fidgets for a moment before Dirk’s twin gestures him over to the seat next to them, which Jake takes gracefully, mumbling out a quiet thank you. The room is nearly silent except for forks and knives against the dishes, food set out for anyone to take in the center. Jake observes the siblings eat before he dishes himself food, glancing over to see the king watching him. He gives a polite nod and eats as properly as he can, his nerves strung up until the king dismisses himself and a tangible stress is dissolved over the table. 

“I’m Hal, if Dirk doesn't care enough to introduce me already. He’s an asshole like that, always forgets his best bro even though we came out the pussy together,” the prince next to him states in such a deadpan tone that Jake immediately has to clap a hand over his mouth to stop the giggle that bursts through. “Oh? It’s a pleasure to meet you, Hal,” Jake says through barely held-back laughter, glancing over to find Dirk scowling at his twin. He glances over to the two on the far side of the table, one with her nose in a book and the other playing with a cat. “And who may you two be?” He asks politely, surprised to see pink eyes meet his own green ones. “I’m Roxy, an thid is my sis Rose!” She gestures to the one reading, who merely gives a half-hearted wave in return. “Were witches. But I promise we won’t hex u tho!! Unless u deserve it lol,” she shrugs, tilting her head to the side to avoid a barrage of peas as Hal flings food at her from across the table. “And Dave is the youngest. Say hey, man,” Dirk prompts, a gentle elbow into the side of the shorter brother to his right. “Hey. Cool to see a were-man around. Don’t got many of those in Derse,” he says, his words clipped as he polishes a sword. Roxy sighs and sets her cheek in her hand, staring dreamily at the wall. “If only I could b a werecat… thatd b pretty fucknig epic, huh?” 

“I know a were-cat!” Jake pipes up, drawing her attention. “He’s not very good at being polite, though. Always yelling about one thing or another, he may as well have been a were-bird with all his screeching,” he smiles as Roxy laughs, his shoulders relaxing as the atmosphere of the table becomes more and more casual. If it’s this easy to get the Strilondes to like him, then maybe he’s alright with this marriage thing after all. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ll probably explain the difference between the vampire and were-creature endocrine systems (ABO stuff) in the comments if anyone asks


	4. The Shifting Chat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dirk and Jake spend the morning talking about shifting. Dirk actually shifts.

The seventh day of Jake’s arrival has him worn out from all of the polite, reserved chatter he’s been trying so desperately to do. He huffs out an irritated growl as he pulls his shirt over his head in the morning and immediately feels a shift in the energy of the room. Dirk stiffens, his pointed ears pricked as he sets his jaw. He doesn’t think he did anything wrong, but he knows that growling is universally irritation or intimidation, and it’ll pull a natural reaction out of anything being growled at if the sound is loud enough, whether it be bristling or cowering or whatever. So he clears his throat and fiddles with the ends of his long sleeves, trying to find the right words to calm Jake down from whatever upset him. “Hey, man, you good? Didn’t sleep well?” 

“I don’t much like being so reserved all the time, it makes for  _ very _ boring conversations. Doesn’t it feel stilted to you? They sent me here to become friendly and comfortable with you and your family, but here I am still trying to be prim and proper and polite,” he huffs again, scolding himself over and over about things he’s sure Dirk wouldn’t care about. “And I still feel embarrassed to have my tail and ears out, but it wouldn’t even matter if I did because I’m living here, right? I shouldn’t have to worry because no one but the royal family is going to see me.” Dirk blinks in surprise at his ramblings, not knowing that he’d talk so much in reply to Dirk asking.  _ He probably doesn’t get asked much about how he feels a lot, _ Dirk muses, sitting at his desk and turned to the side in his chair to observe the other boy sitting on his bed. “No one really cares about being proper and shit in the palace. If you wanna go around with your tail and ears out and your shoes off, no one's gonna say shit. Don’t worry about it, man.” Dirk shrugs, acting as nonchalant as he can as he tries to reign in the excitement of getting to see what Jake’s tail looks like. 

Jake stretches and stands, letting the blankets he had piled around his legs slide off of him and onto the bed. His tail sways behind him, a bushy mess of fur that falls just above his ankles. He’s wearing his boxers backwards, Dirk realizes, allowing for his tail to be out. Fur trails a few inches up his lower back, and he wishes for a moment that Jake hadn’t put a shirt on first. He watches Jake’s hands as they carefully pull his ears out of his hair, rearranging and combing the curly mess so stray strands don’t mess with the secondary pair. They’re longer than Dirk had thought, a dark brown fur on the outside blending into a cream colored inside, and one flicks to the side as Jake moves his hands away again. “You never mentioned your species,” Dirk says from his desk, a startled jump from Jake pulling a smile onto his face. “You didn’t ask before,” Jake retorts half defensively, a smile across his lips as well once he sees Dirk. He puffs out his chest and proudly states, “I’m of the canis lupus occidentalis breed, the biggest type of wolf that isn’t extinct. Well, I mean, clearly not extinct as I’m right here. My sister, Jade, is a grey wolf mix, and her ears and tail are grey.” His tail sways a little harder behind him, drawing Dirk’s attention to it. “You’re pretty proud of being the biggest and most dangerous breed of wolves, huh?” He says offhandedly, distracted, and the wagging stops. Hesitant, Jake wrings his wrists as he shifts from foot to foot.  _ If those can even be called feet, actually, he’s got straight-up toe beans and claws _ , Dirk thinks with surprise as he watches Jake move about awkwardly. “Well, that’s simply how things are. Canines have ruled over Prospit for some time, and it’s only plausible that the biggest and strongest would be the monarchs.” 

“Didn’t mean for it to come off accusatory, bro, don’t worry about it. I don’t mind,” Dirk sighs, standing up from his desk and pushing his chair in as Jake fits himself into a pair of shorts with buttons in the back for his tail to stick out. “If you’d rather sit in here and have someone bring food up I don’t care. You mentioned wanting to get to know each other better, so… we can talk freely in here. Or not, up to you.” He feels a little awkward after commenting on Jake’s genes, and he knows Jake feels awkward too. After Jake nods and starts playing with a puzzle box he’d brought with him from Prospit, Dirk orders food up to the room for them to share as they ask each other questions back and forth. Simple questions like “What's your favorite color?” evolve into questions about life in both kingdoms to the point where Dirk eventually says “Okay. I don’t have any modern Prospitian textbooks so you’ll have to excuse me if this comes off as rude. But as a werewolf, do you really have involuntary shifts during the full moon or is that a myth?” Jake takes a minute to contemplate his words before he sets his head in Dirk’s lap, underneath the sketchbook that Dirk had started drawing in a few minutes prior. 

“Well, it depends. Older were-persons can control their shifts during full moons, and it only affects those who run warm-blooded. Were-reptiles and the like aren't affected by the full moon, and thus don’t need to take the necessary pre-moon precautions that were-wolves and others do. Those being stockpiling food so we don’t go hunting on someone else’s grounds, nesting if it calls for it on non-moon related involuntary shifts such as heats and ruts, and if it’s a pup or a kit then restraints may sometimes be in order as they tend to go a little more feral than those who are older.” Dirk’s pencil scratches lightly against his paper as he thinks over Jake’s words. “So there can be other kinds of involuntary shifts?”

“Right! When someone gets too hot under the collar or riled up, whether it be arousal or anger or whatever, they can shift involuntarily. Minor shifts, such as extra fur or a simple claw flex, are easy to do, but frowned upon in most social settings.”

“Seems about the same in Prospit than it is here, then. Vampires can do some minor shifting depending on their animal patron- ours being bats and cats- so I can pull out claws and sharper teeth and ears, but it’s not really appropriate in public..,” Dirk trails off as Jake shifts in his lap, his hand reaching up to pull the sketchbook aside. His eyes meet Dirk’s for a second before Dirk looks away, clearing his throat as Jake grins up at him. “So,” he says with a smirk, “which are you? Cat or bat? I know that vampires can’t have a humanoid-type shift so it’s only a full small shift, but still. I know that Roxy and Rose can fully shift to cats, but I still wonder about you and your brothers.” Embarrassed, Dirk mumbles under his breath as he closes his sketchbook and sets it aside. “Get out of my lap, then, I’ll show you. I’m a bat, and so are Dave and Hal. The three of us are all albino, but I’ve got a bit more melanin and I inherited Derek’s orange eyes.” Jake hums as he sits up to show that he’s listening, turning to face Dirk as he tries very hard to keep his tail from wagging by sitting on it. Dirk takes a deep breath and closes his eyes, opening them the next moment to see Jake peering down at him with a surprised look on his face. He expects Jake to laugh at him, to tease and mock him for being so small, but it doesn’t come. Instead, Jake’s eyes soften as his hands reach out to cradle the tiny white bat in his palms. 

“ _ Look  _ at you,” he practically croons, fingers gently lifting up Dirk’s wings as the bat squeaks indignantly in his hands. “Oh, shush, I’m not making fun of you. I’ve just never seen a bat like you before. No were-bats have a form so small, it would damage them on their shifts, but  _ aww. _ You’re so cute!” Dirk would make a face at Jake if he could, but at the moment he just tries to hide his face in his little clawed hands, wings folding up into his fur as he squeaks. People can’t usually pick up on the frequency, but Dirk wouldn’t put it past Jake’s secondary ears. Were-creatures can talk when they shift, their form usually around the same or greater size of their body mass, but vampires can’t do that. It’s full shift into the normal animal forms or nothing at all for those less fortunate. Jake has to bite the inside of his cheek to refrain from nuzzling into Dirk‘s tiny form, his tail thumping happily away behind him. Jake blinks, and Dirk is back to his normal size, sitting in Jake’s lap with his legs curled around Jake’s hips and Jake’s hands on Dirk’s waist. He lets go the second he realizes the position they’re in, both of them flustered as they awkwardly rearrange themselves. “I’ll shift for you later,” Jake mumbles, his hand on the back of his neck as he adamantly stares down the window, “since you were kind enough to do so for me.”

“Sure,” Dirk answers, voice wavering from the flustered state he was in as well as the excitement he felt at finally being able to see Jake shift. “Sounds cool to me, man.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone wants to leave suggestions for future chapters, please do!! I love every comment I get <3


	5. Were-dog Tears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jake vaguely talks about childhood life on Prospit as he and Dirk go on a.. ‘date.’ Dirk realizes just how out of the social loop he really is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For some reason it reposted the previous chapter as the fifth one? So here’s the fifth one a month later, sorry for the unannounced hiatus

* * *

It’s irritating, how quiet the mornings are in Derse. Jake is a morning person, always has been, and is horribly irritated at the fact that everyone else seems to be a night owl- or bat, in the case of the vampires.

As a werewolf, he’s no stranger to long nights. His sleep schedule wanes and waxes with the moon, and he sighs as he shifts about in the bed, waiting for Dirk to wake up. Jake has 6 months in Derse- 6 full moon shifts- and then he’s to take Dirk to Prospit. Luckily for him, his heat doesn’t hit until spring, which is the time he’ll be in Prospit and prepared for it. 

Dirk shifts in his sleep with a soft grumble, Jake’s inner anxious monologue paused as he waits. “Finally awake, sleepyhead?” Jake murmurs, reaching over to run his fingers through the sleeping vampire’s hair as he lays beside him. A week was enough time for the both of them to get a little more comfortable with the other, sleeping in the same bed with Dirk laying on top of Jake- and drooling onto Jake’s shoulder, he notices with a bit of disdain.

“Mnnh,” comes the sleepy reply, and Dirk tries to nuzzle his face further into Jake’s neck to hide from the morning. 

“Absolutely the hell not,” Jake says firmly, threading his fingers through Dirk’s hair and giving it a tug- not hard enough to hurt him, of course, but firmly enough to lift his head off of Jake’s shoulder. “Stop drooling on me, you gross little man. Up you get, get dressed, and let’s go down to get breakfast. You promised that you’d stay in the garden with me all day today and I’ll be damned if you try to worm your way out of this one.”

Dirk just sighs in reply, pushing himself up and out of bed so he can tiredly tug a wrinkled shirt up over his head. “Jeez,” he sighs playfully as he tosses Jake his pants to put on, “you’re really fucking puahy. Are you gonna be like this the entire time we’re married? I don’t think I can deal with a nagging house wife. You’re gonna kill me, bro.”

Jake scoffs indignantly at that, pulling his pants on and letting his tail hang out of the back, ears pressed back as he huffs. “I’m no house wife, you sissy prick. If anything, I’m bound to be a literal trophy husband. I hope you haven’t forgotten that neither of us know each other all that well and I won’t be your maid or  _ house wife. _ ” 

Dirk holds his hands up in self-defense, cringing at his word choice and backing off. “Okay, I’m sorry. I know the whole marriage thing rubs you the wrong way, what with all the bonding rituals weres go through. I’m sorry.”

Jake’s shoulders slump as he sighs sharply through his nose, his fur bristling. “It’s an important part of were- culture, picking a suitable mate. It’s really awful when someone can’t choose who they get to love, because a bond bite is permanent in almost every case. But I know your rules on the matters are different, and I know you’re trying to understand. So thank you for apologizing.”

As they walk to breakfast, the air is tense and somber as they pick at their food.It’s even more tense with the no talking rule at the table, and the tension slowly starts to seep away when they get into the garden. Jake visibly relaxes once he steps into the open air, nose twitching and tail swishing as his bare feet pad along the stone path.

“Do you want to talk about life on Prospit?” Dirk offers gently, trying not to push too hard. Jake is defensive and stubborn, quick to retaliate and quicker to brush things off and sulk. But he’s also kind and charming, eloquent in his words and elegant in how he carries himself. It's clear in his stance and his cadence that he cares a lot about how people see him. He performs like life is a show, and everyone has their eyes on him. He takes a breath and closes his eyes, opening them with a look of fond nostalgia. And then he tells the story of his childhood.

_ You are seven years old. You hold a wooden sword in your hand as Jade holds the other in hers, the two of you circling each other and playing pirate. She swings at you with a playful growl, her bushy tail wagging happily behind her hard enough to match yours as you block. _

_ You are nine years old, sitting on the lap of your grandmother as she tells you a story. Your eyes are drooping as she rubs soothing circles into your aching back, the fireplace crackling merrily as snow falls outside the window. _

_ You are twelve years old, and you have a box under your bed of all your baby teeth. You plan to string them all together into a necklace and gift them to Jane, the pretty were-fox that your grandmother says will make a fine queen one day. You don’t know why that is, since you’re supposed to be king, and for all you know, you haven’t chosen Jane as your mate. Mates are important and special and someone you’ll be with for the rest of your life. You don’t see that in Jane. _

_ You are fifteen, and your first heat hits you harder than the soldiers you spar with every day. You curl into yourself and yowl in pain, an uncomfortable warmth seeping into your bones that makes you whimper, drooling into your sheets as you scratch at your blankets in a poor attempt at a nest. You’ve been told that you’re an alpha, the one supposed to serve and protect your precious mate, who will be an omega no matter what. You thought that you could choose anyone, but apparently your options are limited no matter what. Either way, you wish that someone was there to help you feel safe and protected during your heat, choking on your drool as you cry out in pain. No one answers. _

_ You are seventeen. You are told that a war is coming, and the royal plans are switched around. You are no longer going to be king- instead, Jade will take over. You knew that this was going to happen inevitably- you’ve never been one to lead. You can’t help but feel relieved. _

_ You are eighteen. You are nineteen. You are twenty, and you are not allowed to date anyone. _

_ You are twenty-two, and you are to be married to a vampire prince. _

“That’s the short version of how my childhood went,” Jake says simply, shrugging as he picks at forget-me-nots. Dirk can’t help feeling absolutely mortified- from what he heard, it seems like not a lot of people cared about Jake except for his sister and his grandmother. “You- dude, that sucks. You weren’t ever allowed to date anyone just because you’re a prince? That’s pretty shit.” 

Another shrug from Jake, bitter words coming from between his fangs as he speaks, a secondary ear flicking. “I have never had a choice in what happens to me, and I never will. This is a marriage I hope will go smoothly for the sake of our kingdoms, but I will never be allowed to search for love outside of these castle walls. I will never be accepted as true royalty of Prospit so long as I am married to you, because to be married off unwillingly is as good as being put on death row. I want to learn to accept this, to accept whatever may come with this, but I..,” his voice cracks.

Dirk sits down in the dirt and pats the space next to him as Jake sniffles, glancing up from the flowers and sitting down next to him. His head lays heavy on Dirk’s shoulder as he sniffles, justifiably upset. “I want to be your friend. I want to learn to care about you, to care for you, and maybe even to love you. But it will take a while. And I just want everything to be okay. I’m so sick of worrying about everything, Dirk.”

“So am I,” Dirk says softly, running his fingers through Jake’s hair and avoiding both sets of ears so he doesn’t cross any boundary lines. “You’ll be safe and accepted here, and I want to learn to care for you and love you, too. And I promise, I’ll try my best to make things work if you do, too. Okay?”

“Okay,” Jake’s voice is small as he replies, his tail curling around Dirk’s side to comfort them both. “I promise, too.”

By the time they head inside, Jake’s tears have left stains on his cheeks, but his eyes are no longer red and puffy. Dirk considers telling Jake about what the king does to him and his siblings, but then immediately scratches the idea out. No point in stressing the poor boy out further. Maybe another time. They go to sleep with their limbs tangled together under a mes of blankets, desperately trying to comfort each other as they fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might rewrite this entire thing & have them be childhood friends... OR I’’ll write a whole new fic in a Pirate au bc I love pirates. We’ll see, adjusting to school again is rough. Ty for all the kind comments!!


	6. The Dersite’s Full Moon, pt. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A full moon is coming up, and Dirk still hasn’t seen how Jake is during one. He always hides away and shows up the day after, so it’s time to see what he can do about that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Every comment I see inspires me to keep writing, thank you all!  
> I intend to do another part sometime this week, so stay tuned because after the second part of this and one more chapter, Dirk and Jake get to go to Prospit 😳

Approximately four months have passed since Jake’s arrival on Derse. For every full moon that has passed, Jake requested a separate room from Dirk’s and supposedly stayed there the entire day until Dirk saw him the next day, looking exhausted and varying levels of disheveled. The fifth full moon is steadily approaching, and Hal brings it up while Dave and the king spar in the main room below, the twin Striders watching from the top of the staircase above. 

“You know he only has another month here before the two of you get shipped off to Prospit together,” Hal states offhandedly, idly sharpening their sword and watching Dave sidestep a particularly mean swing. “Why not see how the full moon affects him while he’s here instead of at his home?”

“Because it’s none of my fucking business, man. What he does during the full moon has nothing to do with me,” Dirk retorts, wincing as the blades clash particularly loudly. He knows that Jake doesn’t like to watch anyone spar- not after Dirk filled him in on the decades old familial abuse that is currently ongoing. Not for much longer, though, if Hal’s assassination attempts have anything to say about it. Hal sighs, clearly not having gotten the answer that they wanted, and set their own sword down on the step below them, leaning against the railing. “Five months and you two still barely know each other past the base assumptions and ‘hey, you’re kinda cute.’ Shouldn’t you be more invested in your future husband’s well-being?” 

Dirk knows that they’re right, of course, but he won’t say anything past a begrudging grumble, stretching his arms above his head as he readies up for his turn strifing below. Jake is wandering around the halls (mostly) unsupervised, though Roxy promised that she would keep an eye on him as a cat. He really is curious about Jake’s form as a werewolf, though- having seen him as a dog already, he wonders how that differs from the other forms he can take. He said there were three, he thinks- the basic dog, the half and half dog man, and the involuntary full moon shifts. He’s big as a dog, his head coming up just below Dirk’s ribs when on all fours, covered in thick fur and full of boundless energy. Dirk can’t help but wonder, distracted enough by the thought that he gets his ass absolutely handed to him mid-strife.

The scolding doesn’t hurt as much as his pride, rubbing his side where the king smacked him with the flat of his blade as he wanders off to find Jake. Surprisingly, he isn’t in the garden, and he has to ask around to find out that Jake was last seen headed to the kitchen. The soft sound of Dirk’s boots in the velvety red carpet below is all he hears as he heads down the dining room hallway to the kitchen’s double doors, the bright light from the chandeliers above casting thin shadows in every direction. Dirk’s pointed ears twitch when he hears someone singing in the kitchen, as well as fabric rustling and rhythmic tapping. He gently nudges the door open and shifts, flicking his wings out as a bat and climbing up into a pot hanging above the stove so he can watch Jake without being spotted.

He’s singing along to a song in his head, shoving various foods unceremoniously into a bag as he sings in a language that Dirk doesn’t understand. It’s hard not to bop his head along to Jake’s song as he dances to an upbeat tune of his own creation, his feet bare against the tiles as he dances and sings and steals. Dirk doesn’t know why Jake is singing some foreign folk song as he stocks up on various meats and fruits, but he’s glad that he doesn’t notice Dirk watching him. The song is something about sailing if Dirk is interpreting it right- and it certainly does sound somewhat shanty-adjacent. 

The song ends with a bang, Jake laughing and spinning around as he shoves his fist into the air and stops to take a few breaths, winded. He seals up his bag with a bright smile, and Dirk frowns at the mishandling of foods. Raw meats shouldn’t touch other foods, they could get disease everywhere, but apparently Jake doesn’t care enough to properly separate his stolen goods as he slings the bag over his shoulder and walks out of the room. Maybe that’s why he isn’t seen at any meal during the full moon, but Dirk isn’t sure, so he just closely follows him from above, slipping out of the kitchen by Jake’s feet and flapping up to the chandeliers gently swinging above. Jake doesn’t show any indication that he heard him, so he keeps walking despite having heard Dirk’s little bat wings flapping softly up behind him.

Jake knows that Dirk came into the kitchen and watched him, but he also knows that Dirk isn’t really one to push issues, so he’s sure he can get away with hoarding food so long as he explains why. He walks down the hallway to his spare room, amicably waving to any guards that he passes. As he enters his room, he leaves the door open a little longer than necessary so Dirk can slip in and not be shut out. Setting his bag down in the corner of the room, Jake stretches and yawns, snapping his teeth a few times before he shakes out his shoulders and peers up at Dirk. “Are you going to just watch me sit around or are you going to come down here and say hello? No point in just hanging around on the ceiling lights.”

All Dirk could think to do in reply was squeak indignantly, embarrassed at being caught out so easily as he shifts and steps down to the floor, brushing dust off his shirt. “Listen, you were doing suspicious shit. Stealing food from the kitchen and all that, you can’t expect me not to follow you around.” Jake snorts, his tail wagging behind him as he answers, “I don’t care, really. I have to stockpile food during full moons or go out hunting, and hunting isn’t exactly an option here.” 

“Oh,” Dirk says eloquently, shuffling his boots against the floor as he awkwardly looks around the room. A bed frame lays empty against the wall, crumpled metal against the dark backdrop of the deep purple paint. The mattress is on the other end of the room, underneath a pile of blankets and pillows from various rooms. “What happened to the bed frame?” Dirk asks tentatively, stepping towards the mangled metal with an impressed look. Sheepishly, Jake trails over and stands next to him, his own face a mixed look of apprehension and embarrassment. “The first full moon here was very rough on me, I’d completely forgotten to check what day it was and didn’t stock up on food or drink and nearly drove myself crazy. If I don’t have any way to keep myself entertained and not hungry, I get horribly destructive.” He gestures to the twisted metal bedframe, about as embarrassed about destroying it as one might be about accidentally spilling food. “So you were able to twist metal just because you were hungry? Didn’t get to hunt and went fuckin’ feral?”

“Starving, really. That’s why I took so much food, you see, it’s better to be safe than sorry. On a full moon your instincts just kick in- it’s eat, eat, eat, protect your territory if you have any, et cetera. Being so far from home without any food or way to go hunting really got to me, ha ha,” Jake’s voice falters as he speaks, his ears flicking back behind his head. “It’s.., rough. But it’ll be a lot more manageable when I go home, and I’m excited to show you around when we go!” 

“Can I keep you company?” Dirk asks softly, prompting Jake to look up at him in surprise. “Would that make it easier on you?”    
“It.. That would be nice, but I’m not sure I can guarantee your safety. I have food and a little nest to curl up in, but odds are I’ll try to fight you out of a territorial dispute because I haven’t marked anything or simply just boredom,” Jake chuffs worriedly in the back of his throat, walking over to shuffle through his bag for a piece of fruit. Dragonfruit is what he comes out with, pulling it apart with his claws digging into the soft inner flesh with ease. “Don’t worry about me, man. I’ll be safer than safe. The fucking safest. You can’t reach me up on the roof if I’m a little bat, right? Easy escape if you get bored or upset.” Unconvinced, Jake makes a noncommittal noise as he bites into the fruit in his hand, worriedly whining in the back of his throat before he swallows. “Maybe. I’ll have to think about it. If you’re positive that you can keep yourself safe, then you can stay the night. But I suggest bringing something to entertain yourself, because you won’t be allowed to open the door and leave. If I so much as see a glimpse of an opportunity to escape into the streets and go hunting, I’ll take it. It’s why I have to lock myself away at night. I’d rather not accidentally eat someone, you know?”

“Yeah,” Dirk nods, not completely understanding and honestly just excited to be with Jake as a big weredog for a night, “I get you. No accidental people-eating for you. I’ll make sure you’re okay and you’ll be fine. I’ve got you, man.” Jake beams, his tail wagging happily as his secondary ears spring up cheerfully atop his head again. “Oh, thank you, that’s just so nice to hear! I promise I’ll try my best not to do any more damage than I already have.” Jake waves cheerfully as Dirk exits the room, closing the door behind himself and silently cheering. Win one for Dirk and his immense curiosity regarding the pretty dog boy. The full moon is tomorrow night, and Dirk cracks his knuckles in giddy preparation as he walks down the hallways in search of Rose. He’s sure that she can help him find a way to prevent any feral dog bitey-ness, knocking on her door and clearing his throat.

“Hey, Rose. I’ve got a little date with a werewolf tomorrow night, any suggestions for pre-moon jitters? He’s real fuckin’ worried about accidentally hurting somebody.” Rose, having been interrupted in the middle of making a potion already, sighs and turns around to face her older brother. “And what exactly are you trying to get at here? I do suggest that you leave him alone and not accidentally get your head bitten off by your spouse, Dirk. He can be quite temperamental when under the sway of the moon.”

“Yeah, exactly, so if I give him something to calm him down then he might not be so worried and freak out. Hell, maybe he’ll even sleep through it, who knows.” When Rose raises a brow at him, Dirk immediately tries to defend himself. He knows how this must sound. “I just want to make sure that he doesn’t freak out while I’m in there with him. That’s all, honestly.”

“You’re lucky I knew you were going to ask,” Rose sighs, and turns back around to face her work bench. “Come back in a few hours and I’ll have a treat you can give him. Make sure to tell him that it’s supposed to calm him down before you give it to him or else he might get upset at the thought of you drugging him without saying anything first.”

“Got it. You’re the best, thanks Rose.” Her tone is amused as she answers, clipped and sharp as ever. “Shut up and get out, I’m a little busy.”

“Yeah, love you too. See you later.”


	7. The Dersite’s Full Moon, pt. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The full moon night doesnt really go as either of them intended. Tense and uneventful through the day, and then... well, the night gets a little wild.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gasp! An update? And it ISNT several weeks after the previous one?? Wow, absolutely incredible (/hj)  
> I plan to make a third part and then they’re off to Prospit for the spring and summer! The months Jake spent in Derse were through the fall and winter, so they’ll both get to see the royal gardens of Prospit bloom (as well as a summer romance 👀)

* * *

The night before the full moon, Rose hands Dirk a little glass vial full of some kind of potion, thick and viscous as it sticks to the edges of the small vial it’s held in. It’s a swirling light blue mass of liquid, shimmering and bubbly (but not bubbling, thank god) as he tilts it back and forth in the lamp light of Rose’s room. He doesn’t uncork it, knowing full well how Rose’s potions work their magic, and simply thanks her for it before heading to Jake’s room as the sun sets.

“Come in,” Jake calls politely after Dirk knocks, fidgeting with a thin golden bangle as he sits cross-legged on the floor. Dirk knows full well that Prospitians have a particular affinity for jewelry, especially gold, but he’s hardly ever seen Jake wear much of anything since he came to Derse. The lights have been dimmed for their mutual comfort, thin candlelight cast across the room from the oil lamp and assorted candles on the desk close to the door. The piece in Jake’s hands is an intricately woven armband, larger than something Dirk could wear, but something that could fit comfortably around Jake’s upper arm. Dirk tries not to compare the difference in muscle, feeling both self conscious and flustered in the same breath. He won’t ask where Jake got it, not sure how long it’ll be until Jake falls asleep and not wanting to keep him up for too long.

“Brought you something to help you relax. It’s from Rose, if you want it,” Dirk murmurs, offering out the vial that glints in the dim lighting of the room, the blue liquid within slowly swirling inside. Jake offers the bangle out to Dirk, swapping it out for the vial that he uncorks and takes a tentative whiff of, tension bleeding out of his shoulders as he sniffs at it. “It smells like vanilla and sea water,” he notes, surprise evident in his tone and the way his ears prick in interest, “Not that I’ll be drinking sea water, I mean, it smells like the sea from far away. Vanilla and the smell of the sea and a storm brewing,” he adds a bit sheepishly, tilting the vial and trying to drink it all the best he can. All of Rose’s potions smell and taste incredible, thanks to Roxy’s intervention, like something from a childhood memory that’s more comforting than it has any right to be. 

“That’s a nice smell,” Dirk muses quietly, tracing the lines of the golden vines carved into the trinket, “it’ll help you to stay calm all day tomorrow, as well as into the night. The effects should wear off the morning after the full moon.” Jake just gives a hum in reply, tilting his head this way and that, thinking over how the potion tasted. “It doesn’t taste how I expected,” he muses, licking off a bit that he’d missed from the rim of the vial. Dirk averts his eyes. “I expected something mutely vanilla, but it tasted more like a bitter lavender tea with honeycomb. How does she do that?”

“What, make it smell and taste good? That’s not Rose’s doing,” Dirk answers, sitting down with Jake on the floor and stretching out his shoulders. “If Rose had her way with the potions, they’d all taste like gross herbal teas, so Roxy intervenes and adds a little flavor. It’s all magic, really. They’re both really impressive witches, especially when they work together.”

“I bet it’s fun to watch them work,” Jake yawns, his tail slowly swishing back and forth on the ground behind him as he tries to see if the potion vial is truly empty, sticking his tongue out and holding the vial completely upside down. Outside the window, the sun sets under the horizon, coating the sky in the calm darkness that Dirk very thoroughly enjoys. “Yeah, it is fun to watch them work their magic. Do you want me to stay in here with you tonight or come back in the morning?” he asks as Jake drags himself over to the pile of blankets and pillows in the corner of the room. He almost misses Jake’s sleepy reply, a deep rumble in the other boy’s chest. “Mmm. You can stay if you want, but if you plan t’ come back early in t’ morning make sure it’s  _ early _ early. Can’t go out too late, y’know?” Dirk’s soft laugh sparks a gentle warmth in Jake’s chest, the both of them smiling as they talk. “Yeah, got it. I’ll stay in here, go to sleep. I’ll still be here in the morning.”

“G’ night,” comes the sleepy chuff, muffled under several blankets. Dirk can see Jake’s tail wagging, poking out to the side and nearly hitting the wall with every swing. “Good night, Jake,” he replies, shifting once again and curling up inside a box of tissues on the desk. It’s warm, what with the candles nearby, and he doesn’t mind the texture of the tissues either, trying to will himself to sleep so that he can stay up all day and night the next day with Jake.

* * *

Jake wakes up groggy and irritable, his senses uncomfortably sharp for how early in the morning it is. He huffs to himself as he reaches out for his bag of food, grasping about for a second before he finds it and drags it closer. His glasses are on the desk with the candles, but he can’t be bothered to remember to put them on or go and find them just yet. “Good morning,” Dirk’s voice rings through his ears, prompting half a growl from Jake as he sticks his head in his bag and snuffles around. “Or good afternoon. You slept for a really long while, so I went out and had breakfast and lunch with everyone else. Rose gave me some books to read while I’m in here with you, and Roxy gave me something to give you,” he carries on, unperturbed as Jake pulls his head out of his bag, a chunk of raw meat between his teeth. 

Dirk moves to step over before Jake’s eyes snap to him, sharp and guarded as they both pause. “I’m not gonna come into your personal space,” Dirk calmly states, raising his hands in defence, one hand closed around an object that Jake can’t make out without his glasses. “Look, here, I’ll leave it here for you to pick up. Roxy mentioned that you might be super out of it today and giving you something other than the potion last night might help with that.” He kneels and sets the object down onto the floor, something clean and white that makes a familiar clack against the wood stepping away to let Jake come close when he’s ready to.

Dirk moves to go and pick up a book that Rose had given him at lunch, a weird pulp fiction novel that he intends to read solely with the intention to tear the horrible writing to shreds. He can hear Jake eating, but doesn’t turn to look at him. It’s better to give him some privacy, and besides, it’s a vulnerable time for him. All three of his siblings had given him advice on how to handle things, ranging from actually half decent to ‘no, Hal, I’m not gonna romance him, keep it in your pants.’ 

When Jake is finished eating, idly chewing on a piece of cartilage to keep himself occupied, he reaches out for the gift from Roxy. It still smells like her, crinkling his nose as the perfume, strong and sharp, stings over-sensitive nose. It’s a bird’s skull, small enough to fit in the palm of his hand, and perfectly cleaned. He becomes immediately split on what to do with it, having half a mind to put it in his mouth and crunch it up, the other half glad to have something to add to his collection back home. Roxy must have known about his collection through Rose’s seer powers, peering into his personal life which he doesn’t particularly mind. He doesn’t have any secrets that they won’t find out in time.

* * *

Dirk honestly expected more things to happen during the day of the full moon. By the time that 6 pm rolled around, nothing had really happened besides Jake eating various things from his stolen bag of foods and the two of them idly chatting about nothing. He did notice that Jake was much more on edge than usual, jumpier and willing to growl at the drop of a hat if Dirk so much as got within a foot of him. “It’s nothing to do with you,” Jake said sheepishly, “it’s just that I can’t help but want people to stay away from me when I’m like this. It’s really a whole bunch of instinctual malarkey, don’t worry about it.” 

With the sun setting out past the window, curtains tightly drawn, Dirk can’t help but notice that Jake isn’t doing too well. He seemed to at least be aware of what was going on during the day, verbally and physically responsive when Dirk called out to him or one of them got bored and decided to chat. Now, though, he wasn’t responding at all. The only thing that could be heard from Jake at the moment was growling, his tail no longer poking out from under the pile of blankets and pillows.  _ Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to be stuck in here all night with someone who can’t communicate with me,  _ Dirk thinks to himself, a little too late to go back on his decision now, but oh well. 

Jake has himself buried under the covers completely, curled up with his knees to his chest and his hands in his hair. The shift during the full moon is completely involuntary every time, as well as uncomfortable and often painful. The growling isn’t because he doesn’t want Dirk there, but because he’s conflicted between  _ protect what little territory you have  _ and  _ don’t hurt him. _ He keens the second the sun sets, shaking and digging his fingers into his head as he tries to resist the shift.

Dirk, having opened the curtains to see out into the night, immediately drags them closed again at the sound, startled. “Hey, man, are you-?” 

Harsh snarling cuts him off, striking pure, animalistic fear through him hard enough to force a shift. Dirk flits up towards the ceiling as Jake snarls under the blankets, the were boy forcibly yanking his hands away from his head so he doesn’t claw himself. He howls out in pain, his voice rough as he feels his back bend and pop uncomfortably. The blankets are suddenly too much, too warm, touching him too much, so he throws the covers off and shivers against the cold air of the room, whining in the back of his throat as he paces the room on all fours.

Dirk’s claws dig into the ceiling as he watches Jake circle below, awed and a little afraid. He’s much larger than Dirk had thought he would be, his form hunched and much taller than he already is. 

Would going down there to make sure he’s alright be a bad idea? Probably. Is the painful keening sound that Jake keeps making horribly concerning? Yes, absolutely, and that’s enough grounds for Dirk to flit back down to make sure he’s alright. Settling down on the desk with the half melted candles gives him enough space to watch Jake pace and hopefully not be noticed, the fur on his haunches bristling as he pads around the room. He squeaks as he flumps down next to the largest candle on the desk, flicking melted wax away with his foot as he settles.

Jake’s head swivels over when he hears the squeak, ears up and alert as he pauses his pacing. Dirk holds his breath as Jake stalks forward, slowly trying to hide behind the candle next to him until Jake sets his chin on top of the desk. He huffs out a heavy breath of hot air, ruffling Dirk’s fur and making him squeak again in surprise at the sudden gust. He knows that he’s smaller than most bats usually are, but it doesn’t usually bother him. Now, however, he’s intimidated by the sheer contrast of size between the two of them, Jake’s teeth clearly visible as he growls deep in the back of his throat, the sound thrumming through Dirk’s bones. Setting a little clawed hand on top of Jake’s nose, Dirk tries to let Jake recognize his scent before he freaks out, already trying not to freak himself out. It’s a completely new experience, and both of them need time to adjust.

Jake takes a second to sort out the scents in his head- the melted candles, the lamp that sits unlit on the desk, the tissue box, and the bat. The little citrus-scented bat that has a paw on his nose, the poor thing shaking like a leaf. He chuffs softly and bumps his nose into Dirk’s little form, pulling back to continue pacing the room.

Dirk, relieved that Jake didn’t seem upset, shifts as he moves off of the desk and leans against it as Jake paces. On his third loop of the room, he slows down and stops in front of Dirk, standing up on his hind legs and towering over the shorter man. Dirk always says that he isn’t a short person, he’s of average height and everyone else is just tall, but to stand in front of Jake who towered over him even as a human makes him feel small- though not necessarily in a bad way. 

He’s taller than he was as a human, several inches added to his massive frame as he stands on his back paws and rests his front paws on the desk on either side of Dirk, boxing him in. He’s clearly having trouble seeing, eyes narrowed as he stares down the vampire in front of him, tilting his head as he presses closer. His head isn’t as doglike as it was in the main shift’s form, sharper teeth poking out of his lips on either side of his muzzle. The ears are lower on his head, closer to where the main pair would be, and his eyes are more towards the front. It’s almost his face, just dog-ways and covered in thick, dark brown fur. He’s also not wearing anything, Dirk suddenly realizes, flushing and shifting his feet under Jake’s sharp gaze. Of course he can’t wear anything, Dirk scolds himself, having to keep his eyes locked on Jake’s shoulder to resist the temptation of looking down in case there might be something there. 

Jake chuffs at him, unbalanced enough to need to rest his front paws against the desk in front of him so he doesn’t fall back to all fours. He’s just glad that Dirk didn’t go and leave him alone, but he’s also disappointed that Dirk didn’t give him a way to leave the room. He can’t exactly use doors with how these paws move, thumbs more like dewclaws on either side of his hands- there in design, sure, but useless for doing anything outside of hunting. He chuffs again when Dirk doesn’t do anything, trying to ask for his glasses. He nudges Dirk’s cheek with his nose, trying to point to his glasses behind the nervous boy. 

There’s no way Jake doesn’t smell the nervous arousal on him, Dirk thinks as he feels Jake’s cold nose nudge his cheek. He turns his head, following Jake’s eyes to his glasses on the table.  _ Oh.  _ Well, now he just feels like a massive asshole, Jake wasn’t trying to put the moves on him- he just couldn’t see. “My bad, man, here. Sorry about the confusion, it must suck not being able to see,” Dirk says, trying to shake his nervousness, “you should get a chain for them so they don’t go flying off when you go running like this and stuff. Don’t exactly got a way to put them on your face, huh…?”

Another chuff from Jake, probably an affirmative. Or just asking him to hurry up, slipping the glasses over Jake’s snout and trying to get them to sit evenly on his face. Dirk is still incredibly skittish at the fact that Jake’s massive, clawed hands are resting on either side of him, swallowing thickly as Jake blinks through the lenses. He looks a little goofy, but then again, he’s always goofy in his own weirdly charming way. 

Jake has to bend to lay his head on Dirk’s shoulder, a deep, comforting rumble in his throat as he presses up against the smaller man. “Getting a little friendly there,” Dirk squeaks, not quite sure where to put his hands other than Jake’s shoulders. They both stand there for a while, just breathing and leaning together as the night continues quietly on. The calm mood could be the effects of Rose’s potion, Dirk thinks belatedly, moving a hand down to Jake’s chest as he slowly breathes. By the time Jake moves away, his pupils are wide enough to nearly cover the green, sinking back down to all fours and curling up on the floor. 

If Dirk lets himself be honest, it’s pretty cute how Jake trusts Dirk to see him so vulnerable like this. He tries to sneak away, making sure Jake’s eyes are closed as he tiptoes towards the door. He just wants to go out and get a snack, not trusting Jake’s bag of assorted and stolen goods. But the door creaks when he opens it, freezing him in place as he peers out into the hallway. 

Jake is too fast for him to stop, barrelling past Dirk and knocking him to the floor as he rushes out through the door and into the hallway, tail wagging furiously behind him as he bounds down the staircase and vanishes around the corner. 

“Well, shit. That’s not good.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Should I add anything nsfw in this fic? I do intend to have them go through Jake’s heat, but I’m not sure if I should change the rating and add tags for it or not.


	8. The Dersite’s Full Moon, pt. 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dirk keeps Jake company in the garden until the sun rises, and the two of them have a talk about future issues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ll be honest I completely forgot about updating this fix until I got a comment on it so thank you! Here is a bit of a longer chapter to make up for it

* * *

It isn’t hard to find where Jake went, his nails leaving irritatingly clear marks in the smooth tiles of the floor and down towards the garden doors, previously locked securely for the night but now slightly ajar. Dirk sighs in irritation, combing one hand through his hair as Roxy snickers behind him, having just come out of her room once she’d heard the commotion. She hardly sleeps much at night anyways, so Dirk had expected her to show up at some point during the night- just not now, though, when he’d so clearly done the one thing that they had all known not to do. “Not a damn word, Rox,” he mumbles out, well aware that he had been too tied up in his own flustered thoughts to think that Jake would be waiting for an opportunity to go out and hunt. Of course he would, he literally said that he would try to bolt at the first opportunity, but there Dirk goes, fucking it all up, and he continues himself as he starts to head for the stairs past Roxy.

Roxy, in a rare moment of grace, doesn’t comment on his mishap, instead patting Dirk’s shoulder before stretching her arms above her head and walking off to go back to bed. Right. This is Dirk’s mess to clean up, and clean it up he shall. He only has his house slippers on as well as a pair of fuzzy socks as protection against the dirt and the stone path once he steps into the garden, but that’s his own fault for not thinking ahead enough to be properly prepared. Jake isn’t anywhere immediately visible, so Dirk shifts into his smaller form so that he can fly above the tall rose bushes and seek him out.

Jake is found padding happily alongside a patch of forget-me-nots, the amount of dirt in his fur immediately making Dirk want to go and check for any holes that he might have dug amidst the flowers and the bushes. Dirk is careful to let his footsteps be heard when he lands and shifts back, not wanting to startle Jake into an aggressive state this soon. “Hey,” he calls out, soft as his voice can manage, and Jake pauses in his tracks. It’s almost adorable, how Jake’s ears prick and swivel back towards Dirk, but it very quickly becomes a little intimidating once Jake’s sharp gaze shifts to lock onto the other man. His stance shifts into one that Dirk knows is predatory, his own pointed ears twitching as he tries to school his emotions. He can’t let Jake sniff out that he’s afraid or Jake will try to catch him, and that won’t end well. There’s no point in running since Jake is most definitely faster than him, and he _should_ have had no reason to be afraid of Jake. 

But the jolt of unpleasant fear that courses through his nerves as soon as Jake growls at him has him reconsidering his choice to come and find Jake in the garden. He’d said that he likes to hunt, that the wolfish side of him revels in it, needs it, but he hadn’t considered that Jake could very well end up hunting _him._ Jake prowls forward under the bright light of the moon, his eyes sharp and fierce but probably not in a clear enough state of mind to be reasoned with as he growls louder with each step that Dirk takes back. “Shh, Jake, it’s me. You’re not going to eat me, I’m fuckin scrawny as hell. Look at me, I’ve got no meat on my bones, dude. You don’t want this, dude, come on,” Dirk murmurs in the hopes that Jake is at least listening to him through whatever predatory thoughts might be crashing around inside of his head. 

When Jake snarls loud enough for it to scatter the thoughts of Dirk’s mind, he turns tail as fast as he can and takes off into the garden. His feet pound against the stone steps of the garden as Jake’s own come heavily from behind him, Dirk taking a sharp turn and practically throwing himself sideways in the hopes that Jake will be at least a little bit thrown off. Trying to shift in the unlikely chance that he could fly away would go horribly if Jake were to catch him at that size- he would be dead in one bite, so it would be best not to risk it. His best chance now is to run and try to throw Jake off the best he can and try to hide, but his thoughts are wrenched out of his head as Jake barrels right into him. Dirk’s breath is painfully forced out of him as he gets knocked down, Jake’s forepaws landing heavily on his shoulders as his teeth lock around Dirk’s neck. 

A low, deep growl rumbling in Jake’s chest keeps Dirk frozen in place, his fingers curled into his palms as he tries to catch his breath again. Jake’s breathing is ragged against Dirk’s neck as the both of them catch their breath, Jake’s teeth around Dirk’s neck being an uncomfortably sharp reminder of the position that he’s been caught in. The tense moment breaks as soon as Jake lets go with a self-satisfied “ _Wuf_ ,” settling his full weight down onto Dirk with a smug chuff, his tail thumping idly against Dirk’s thighs. 

Oh. He just wanted to play. That’s why he didn’t bare his teeth when he was approaching Dirk initially, and the fact that his ears had stayed forward and attentive instead of folding back in genuine aggression.

Dirk struggles to catch his breath under the weight of Jake lying on top of him, his cold, wet nose pressed against where he’d nearly left a bite on the side of Dirk’s neck. His hold was gentle as his teeth had rested there, but it was no less intimidating even when Jake silently apologizes like this. Dirk makes a poor attempt at speech, his words faltering the moment he tries, clearing his throat and trying again. “You scared the hell out of me, man,” he rasps, voice tight with the residual fear wracking his body and the pain from getting winded. Jake whines, nudging the side of Dirk’s face with his own in what Dirk assumes to be an apology, and Dirk reaches one hand up off of the ground to wipe off the side of his throat. Dog drool, gross. 

“It’s okay, just.. Make it a little clearer you’re playing next time, man. I thought you were gonna take a bite out of me like I was this year’s Harvest festival feast, for fucks’ sake, don’t scare me like that.” A low, almost painful keen from Jake almost makes Dirk feel bad about scolding him, but he just pushes up in an attempt to throw the heavy beast that had settled on top of him. Now is as bad a time as ever to be horny about being pinned and having someone’s teeth at your throat, Dirk grouses at himself, and thankfully Jake moves off of him so he can sit up and pat the dirt from his clothes instead of trying to distract himself from his own sleep deprived and touch starved brain.

“We need to go back inside so that Roxy isn’t worried about you all night, you big fucking dummy. Don’t run off next time or I swear I’ll have Kanaya make a custom collar and leash just so I can keep track of you. Jesus Christ.” Jake growls at that, butting his head against Dirk’s side in an obviously displeased display, but he’s only half joking. Having Jake in a collar would look really nice, actually, and now that Dirk is thinking about it he’s not sure how he’s going to remove the thought from his head. Again, not the best time to be thinking about it. 

For the next few hours, Dirk runs Jake around in the garden in an attempt to help him wring out some of the excess hunting energy so that he doesn’t try to playfully hunt Dirk down instead of some other (actually edible) quarry.

* * *

The sun comes up past the horizon startlingly fast and Dirk has to drag them both inside before the first rays can catch them, Jake thankfully now lucid enough to realize that he needs to get his shit together and follow Dirk unless he wants to be stuck in the nude in the garden. “And that wouldn’t be fun for either of us, now would it?” Dirk had scolded him, and Jake had just amicably chuffed at him in return. The two of them had just barely gotten through the door to Jake’s temporary room before he started to shift back and Dirk had to force his eyes away again, his face flushed as Jake shuffles around behind him.

“You don’t have to turn away so abruptly, you prude, I’m going to put clothes on right now,” Jake teases once his vocal cords settle properly in his throat, albeit a little unsteadily. Dirk’s face just flushes even deeper at the rough way Jake’s voice scratches in his throat, as if he were still partially stuck in his wolfish form. As if Jake had glanced over and seen into Dirk’s thoughts, he adds, “I apologize for how my voice is, the strain of turning so harshly tends to linger even hours after. I’ll be sore all over for about a day, so don’t expect me to do much except laze about and drink tea to help with my throat.”

His laugh is like a warm ray of sunshine heating up the cage that Dirk’s poor fluttering heart beats against, and his cheerful presence threatens to burn him just as the sun itself does. Sneaking a glance doesn’t help either, only spurring on Dirk’s flustered state as he gets a full view of Jake’s exposed back as he ties his belt around his waist through the belt loops of his pants. There are a _lot_ of freckles spattered across his shoulders and amidst a few thin scars, and Dirk would give anything to know the stories that his body holds. To kiss each freckle across the expanse of his back and shoulders, to know what secrets he hides under his clothes.

Jake clears his throat and Dirk glances up to meet Jake’s eyes, finding that though embarrassed as he might be, he can’t turn away from the intense gaze that Jake’s sharp green eyes hold his own in. He's stuck, caught and found out by the man he was admiring. Dirk’s face must be as redder than Hal’s eyes, his pointed ears twitching in deep shame and embarrassment before Jake lets his gaze fall, the tense air fizzling out from between the two of them as Jake sighs and slips a loose shirt over his head. “Nevermind,” he sighs, soft, giving Dirk a smile before he continues. “Do you want to know how I got some of these scars?” he asks, gesturing to his back. His voice was almost too soft for Dirk to hear, so Dirk assumes that it must hurt to speak very loud. Not wanting to have to strain him too much, Dirk steps closer so that he can hear Jake speak more clearly. “Only if you’re alright with it,” Dirk murmurs, fidgeting with the hem of his sleeve as they both sit down together on the mattress on the floor. “And remind me to get you another bed frame. Don’t fuck this one up too hard.” 

Several quiet hours pass as the two princes recount stories of each of their scars, pulling up pants legs and rolling up sleeves until Jake just takes his shirt off again to show off a large scar stretching from his right collarbone down to his hip. Ouch. “I fell off of the cliff side when me and my grandmother went hunting for a rare flower above the sea. It only grows there in the fall, so she had me all bundled up in my winter attire, but I still managed to injure myself nonetheless. I've always been a bit accident prone, I suppose, so.. I have a lot of strange scars. Not all of them are from strifes, you know.” Dirk just hums in reply, giving the story of how he’d accidentally cut his finger when Rose was trying to teach him how to properly peel an apple, allowing the two of them time to trade off stories. Jake continues once Dirk gestures for his turn, recounting the story behind a scar on his inner thigh and Dirk tries his best not to look any further up Jake’s shorts.

* * *

The morning after the full moon, Jake is especially tired, passing out on Dirk’s shoulder before Dirk even realizes that he had fallen asleep. Dirk gently lays Jake down and quietly removes himself from Jake’s room, heading down to the main hall for breakfast and dutifully ignoring Roxy’s teasing looks. “Jake had a rough night and is still asleep,” he provides as an excuse for his absence, prompting Hal to snicker. “Not like that, you fucking horny bastard. He ran out into the garden and tackled me. I’m going to bring him food after I finish eating so that he can eat when he wakes up and that’s the end of it, _Roxy,_ I don’t want to hear a lecture on all the ways I fucked up because I let the pretty Prospitian boy knock me over in the dirt. Fuck off, all of you.”

“Hey, that’s not fair,” Dave pouts from the other side of the table, half joking. “I didn’t do shit, bro.”

“And you’ll continue to not do shit if you know what’s good for you,” Dirk jokes right back, heading to the kitchen and trying to see if he can’t catch some of the servants and get help making Jake some decent food. Once Dirk leaves the room, Rose puts down three silver coins at the same time that Hal puts down four. “They’re going to fall in love before they get to Prospit,” she bets, and Roxy takes her side. “No way, they won’t even make it to the wedding before Jake is trying to bite Dirk’s head off,” Hal counters, Dave being the firm neutral party between his siblings. “So long as Dirk is happy and safe, I don’t care what happens. He can go and get his fill of biting kinks from the pretty Prospit prince all he likes, I’ve got my own messes to deal with,” he sighs, kicking his feet up onto the table before Hal knocks him over backwards. “What, your crush on the prince’s cousin? Trust me, you don’t want to get any more involved with Prospitians. They’re all flighty bastards who can’t face their own problems without running away. If it weren’t for this marriage pact, they’d be running to go and get help from Alternia,” Hal counters, and the bickering begins anew as it does every day that the king is not present for a meal.

* * *

The day after the fifth full moon of Derse and Dirk’s first experience with Jake’s involuntary shifting, the two of them sit down in Rose’s tea room for a talk. They were both given a list of things to talk about by Rose, consisting of how the sixth full moon should happen, the impending trip to Prospit, and (only on Dirk’s paper, of course,) Dirk’s developing crush on Jake. ‘ _While it is a good thing that you’re falling for your future husband,’_ she wrote, _‘it’s also important to note that you need to think past face value. If you only appreciate him for his body, then the two of you will never become genuinely close and the relationship you two could have will fall apart before it starts. You both need to find something in the other worth loving besides the mutual physical attraction standpoint.’_

A weird thing for her to say, but Dirk doesn’t have any complaints. Rose has always been very straightforward in getting to other people’s problems if she doesn’t feel like being cryptic, and Dirk appreciates the note. The bit about a mutual physical attraction standpoint certainly does pique his interest, but he also recognizes that she’s right. A relationship can be built on that, but it’ll very quickly crumble apart if neither of them truly know the other. “So,” Jake begins, clearly a bit nervous as he sits down on one side of the small table that Rose had set out for them. Two cups of tea (one in a sleek veridian coating, the other a deep mahogany laced with kintsugi) on either side of a chessboard. “What’s the first thing that she asked _you_ to talk about? Mine says the last full moon of my stay in Derse, but your note looks a bit longer than mine.”

“The sixth full moon of your visit is what’s written as first on my note, too, I just have a bit more because Rose tends to go on and on when she’s scolding someone. It wasn’t very smart of me to let you out during the full moon yesterday, even if you were helped by the effects of her potion.” Jake gives a tentative smile at that, and Dirk casually tosses his note into the fireplace to his right before moving to sit down across from Jake. Jake has the white pieces, so Dirk gestures for him to go first. “Make your move on the chessboard and say what you’d like, and then I’ll make my move and give you my thoughts on what you say. This is how Rose does a lot of her faux therapy sessions with the rest of us.”

Jake nods, hovering his hand over the pieces on his side before he moves a pawn two spaces forward. “So. The next full moon, should I expect a similar potion? I can’t say that I expect you to accompany me this time, what with your… quite obvious embarrassment over the event. And while it’s true that I was able to control myself in the garden to some extent, I still would have bitten through your throat and cracked your spine had I not been helped by the potion that Rose and Roxy so graciously supplied me. The urge to hunt is very compelling, and I’m glad that you’re unhurt.”

Dirk mirrors his move with a black pawn, just slightly adjacent to Jake’s as he prepares his own statement. “Each point on the note she handed you is supposed to last one game. By the time that the game is finished, we should both have thoroughly discussed and agreed on a mutual standing point. Yes, you can expect another potion, built off of the one you took and (I’m assuming) with slightly different effects. I’ll be there to go through it with you again, if you’ll allow me to. It was embarrassing, yes, but not so humiliating that I’d be too scared not to try again. And who knows, there might be a better result next time. You clearly need something to help keep you entertained, as was evident in how many hours we spent playing in the garden.”

Jake sights and nods, moving his left knight out surprisingly quickly. Dirk had expected him to take an offensive stance, but it seems that Jake has a few things to say. “I won’t be able to receive a similar potion on Prospit. In the same hand, I’ll also be with other were-creatures, so the shift will be easier as I’ll be surrounded by those who are going through the same thing that I am. However. That leaves you, a non-were, amidst a pack of literal wolves who _will_ be hunting.”

Dirk sets forth another pawn, thinking over what he’s to say in return. “I’ll be safe so long as none of you can catch me. I’ll stay shifted as a bat throughout the first night and stay above all of you so none of you can catch me or sniff me out. If anything turns bad, I’ll head right back to the castle.” Jake’s posture loosens as he takes a sip of tea from the chipped cup, giving away his relief at Dirk’s words. 

One more pawn forward, pawn takes pawn, knight takes pawn and gets taken by the bishop that Jake didn’t pay attention to, and both of them come to a mutual agreement as Dirk takes Jake’s king, trapping him between a rook and a bishop. “Okay, I trust that you’ll keep yourself safe and I promise not to worry too much about it. I’ll send forward a letter in a week telling my siblings what our plan is, does that sound good to you?” Jake asks, a relaxed smile on his lips as Dirk takes a sip of his own tea and finishes it off. “That sounds fine to me. I’ll reset the board if you’ll start on the next topic.” The sun sets behind the thick curtains that Rose has drawn in her room before the two of them finally finish a third game, laughing and chatting back and forth amicably. Strider 2, English 1 on the scoreboard that Dirk plans to stay on top of. 

The next full moon passes with significantly less trouble, and before they know it, it’s the week before the two of them are to leave for Prospit and Dirk still has not packed anything, much to Rose’s chagrin. 


	9. Reluctance and Oceanic Intimacy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dirk and Jake begin their journey across the seas towards Prospit. A few teasing conversations are had, an intimate moment creates even more tension, and the journey to Prospit begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My #1 headcanon in all of Homestuck is that Dirk is trans, so there are a few sparse mentions of binding and stuff hinting to it (nothing explicit so far). Warnings for throwing up while the two of them are on the ship, Dirk gets seasick because he’s never been on a ship before (poor boy). Also, this chapter is pretty dialogue heavy and is also twice the size of my usual chapters, whoops.

* * *

The week before the two princes are to make their journey overseas, Dirk has still not packed. Rose warns him that if he is unprepared for the spring and summer of Prospit that he could very well keel over and die from all of the sun exposure, but he just sighs and mumbles about how it can’t be _that_ bad if Jake can handle Derse’s harsh winters. “Then again,” he sighs, moving his last remaining bishop into place on the chessboard between him and Rose as they talk, “he did stay inside for the most part. He’s hardly stepped out into the snow, and the garden is under a greenhouse roof so it doesn’t snow on the plants.” Rose knocks his king over with a flourish and he grumbles once more before allowing her to scold him, his arms crossed grumpily over his chest. 

“It’s not only going to be more difficult to bind since Prospit is hot, but the palace there is in the middle of a jungle. It will be hot _and_ muggy, so your hair will also be messed up by the humidity. Jake is completely unaware of the fact that you have to bind, and I can only assume that he thinks that vampires crumble to dust under the sun, so just remember to be patient with him. He can’t read your mind.” Rose pauses to take a sip of her tea, somehow managing to look down her nose at her taller brother at the same time. The porcelain clinks against the table before they both start putting the chessboard back into place.

“I know,” Dirk finally replies, reluctant to even talk about it, “but what if he doesn’t like me as much when he finds out all of this shit? What if he thinks I’m…” he gestures vaguely, more distressed about the whole situation than he’s letting on. Rose sets a hand on top of his, gently pinning it to the table and drawing his attention. “I’ll kill him myself if I find that he hates you because of any of your ‘secrets,’ Dirk. But I think you’ll find that nothing will change regardless. Would you like me to ask the cards about your journey before you go?” Dirk shrugs in a noncommittal manner, but doesn’t get up from his seat. “Sure,” he mumbles as he picks up his own cup to fidget with, “I don’t care.”

Rose stands and walks over to her altar, picking up her neatly stacked tarot deck before calmly approaching the table again. She gives the deck three good shuffles before splaying the cards out in front of them, sitting down in her chair and crossing her ankles under the table. “Go on,” she prompts, gesturing to the cards, “point to two. The present and the future. I won’t draw one for your past, we both know how that will go.” Dirk points to one on the left of the middle, and then nearly all the way at the end of his right, and Rose picks them up accordingly. 

“For the present, I’ve drawn the Fool- reversed. It often signifies a lack of direction, poor judgement, and stupidity.” She gives Dirk a teasing smile over the table as he slouches deeper into his chair. “You’re hesitating to go through with a plan, and it’s holding you back from something that could turn out worthwhile. I think you and I can both assume that this is about packing for the trip and telling Jake about a few things.” Dirk hums, neither confirming nor denying what she has said. “What’s the next one?”

“For your future, I’ve drawn the ace of pentacles, upright. A new opportunity, often charged with emotional energy flowing towards some drive and or ambition. Don’t let the opportunity pass you by when it presents itself, or things will go even slower than they are now. Don’t be afraid to leap without looking. A tough one for you, always planning fourteen steps too far ahead. Your plans always crumble when you try to think of everything, and then you’re left scrambling to pull yourself together.” Dirk sighs irritably, but knows that she’s right. He had tried to plan out the fifth full moon and failed. He had tried to think of everything to pack, but ended up spending too much time trying to learn about Jake and Prospit that he’d completely lost track of time.

“You’re right, but you don’t have to say it. Now that I know there’s some big opportunity coming my way for something I’m just going to overthink it all and step on my own toes trying to dance with a partner who may or may not even be at the ball. And if my partner turns out to be Jake, I’ll just get too flustered by how pretty he is or how warm he feels with his hand on my waist as we twirl around in the pitch fucking black ballroom. This is turning into a fantasy, actually, nevermind.”

Rose snickers, giving Dirk a smirk as she collects their empty cups. The rest of the tarot cards are still on the table, Rose’s personal deck, and Dirk is tempted to ask for a love reading. He puts the thought away once Rose returns, picking up her cards and shuffling them once more and putting them gently back down on her altar. She raises a brow once she sees the indecisive look on Dirk’s face, and he runs his hand down his face to smooth out the look into a carefully neutral look. “Go and pack, then. I’ll be here if you need anything else,” Rose smiles, a knowing look behind her smile. “Yeah, yeah, got it. Stop looking into my head,” Dirk smiles back, stretching as he stands up at the table and pushes his chair in.

* * *

Two days before the boat to Prospit is scheduled to arrive and take Jake home with Dirk along with him, and Jake has been packed for longer than he’d like to admit. He’s excited, of course, but he’s a little guilty that he’s been packed for so long. Dirk is clearly hesitant to leave his home, and they’ve both been a little distant from each other lately. “Are you upset?” _With me?_ Jake wants to add, but he can’t blame himself for Dirks sour mood so quickly. “Not at you,” Dirk answers, and Jake’s anxiety is a little bit quelled. “What are you upset at, then? Is there something that I can do about it?” Dirk shakes his head and leads the two of them down the hall towards the library. “Nah. It’s just me worrying about things that haven’t happened yet. Rose is a seer, so she can see the future. Though she’s never clear about what she sees.”

“Oh, my sister can see glimpses of the future! Though it’s more precognitions and premonitions than actually seeing into the future itself. It’s cloud gazing, seeing the future reflect off of the sky and into her dreams. It’s very pretty, I think.” Dirk doesn’t know how to react to that, so he just nods and pushes the doors to the library open. They both lapse into an almost comfortable silence, searching among the shelves for something interesting. “What’s your favorite genre?” Jake asks, desperate to break the silence. Dirk just shrugs and puts back a romance novel, looking more bored than Jake had seen him so far. “I quite like adventure and romance novels myself. Nothing more interesting than someone sweeping someone else off their feet!” Dirk shrugs again and Jake pouts, his tail drooping between his legs as he walks away to go and find a place to sit and read. 

Dirk feels a little bad about not answering him, but he’s honestly just looking for something that interests him. He’s not really one for romance novels, since he thinks that they’re cheap and stupid and probably not an accurate representation of falling on love, but now he’s considering actually reading one for once. “Hey, Jake,” he calls, his footsteps echoing dully against the wooden floors. Jake perks up when he hears, his ears pricked and turned towards Dirk from where he’s seated. “What book would you recommend and why? Give me a whole essay on why I should read it.” Jake immediately begins rambling on about a cheesy romance novel about something or other, and Dirk sits back and listens. 

Several hours are spent in the library, reading by the light of the sun filtering through the tempered glass windows. “Why don’t you turn to dust in the sun?” Jake asks abruptly, and then immediately flushes in embarrassment one his thoughts catch up to his mouth. “Well, er, I mean, vampires. Right? Supposedly the sun is a weakness, and that’s why you lot are all nocturnal. But you just stay out of direct sunlight for the most part, and it doesn’t look like it’s bothering you much at all. Why is that?” 

“Because we won’t shrivel up and die like your grandpa’s crusty old ballsack, due to crumple into dust as soon as the breeze hits it. Vampires are just more sun-sensitive than most, so we sunburn really easily. That doesn’t have anything to do with us being nocturnal, we’re just made that way.” Dirk shrugs, pulling off one of his gloves with his teeth and leaning his hand into the sunlight. It looks like a normal hand would, and Jake pouts a little at that. “Awh. But that’s a little boring, isn’t it? Are there any interesting things about vampires that I should know. I’ve already told you about me, so it’s only fair.” Dirk turns over the thought in his head, putting his bookmark in his book and setting it down decisively. 

“Well, it’s true that blood is necessary for vampires to survive. It can be the blood of animals or people, just not of other vampires. If I tried to drink from any of my siblings I would get so fucking sick it isn’t even funny, that shit tastes like ass. We have a certain supply to drink from, and it’s a once monthly thing. I only need to drink once a month to stay at this level of okay, but that’s more than usual. I just tend to be sleep deprived and thus need more food to get by. I can go for about two months after a good drink before my body starts to shut down, just like anyone else that needs to eat. I can eat normal food to help, but I can’t survive on it.”

Jake’s tail is thumping softly against the back of his chair as he leans forward, his expression rapt and thrilled. “Can you turn people into vampires or is it a hereditary thing? Can you have children or are vampires truly infertile by nature? What kind of blood do you drink, who provides it, and are you allowed to hunt for yourself?” Dirk almost laughs at how eager he is to learn, barely holding back a smile as he laces his fingers together and crosses his legs at the ankles. “Well, let’s see. I can’t turn people into vampires yet, since I’m still less than a thousand years old. Only older vampires can do that, but they run the risk of killing themselves in the process. It takes a lot of energy to turn someone, and it’s frowned upon to do it without proper consent. Consent is very important to vampires, you know, we actually do have to ask permission to enter places. I’d rather not have kids, but I could if I wanted to. There are anti-fertility spells to prevent pregnancy, so I’m not particularly worried. I drink whatever blood is provided at the first meal of the month. Bro hunts with a few of the servants every so often, and it ranges from elk to deer to moose to whatever else roams the fields out here.” 

“Fascinating,” Jake grins, his expression almost reverent, and Dirk flushes, fidgeting with his gloves. “So you aren’t allowed to hunt for yourself. When we’re at Prospit, what will you feed from? Will you need me to get you something, or would you be comfortable feeding off of me?” Dirk swallows thickly and lets his gaze drop from Jake’s eyes to his neck, running his tongue over his sharp teeth behind his lips. “Well. I don’t care how I get the blood, so long as I stay on schedule. I don’t mind feeding from you, but… it’s still intimate. So I don’t know how comfortable _you_ would be with that, but if you’re willing, then I don’t mind.” Dirk almost doesn’t catch the shiver that ruffles Jake’s fur, his grin growing wider as his tail picks up speed. “Oh, believe me, I’m willing to help out. I’m curious to see how it feels!” Dirk almost chokes on his own spit once Jake winks at him, picking up his book again and opening it wide to hide his flustered face.

* * *

Today is the day of their departure, and Dirk is trying to check his baggage a seventh time. Jake is already saying his goodbyes to the other Strilondes, but Dirk is being dragged down the stairs by Hal. “If you weren’t trying so hard to be composed I have no doubt that you’d be kicking and screaming,” they joke dryly, half carrying Dirk and one of his suitcases down to the foyer where everyone else is waiting. “Nice of you to join us,” Rose says without glancing at Dirk, a glass of tea on one hand and a book in the other. She’s floating a few inches off of the ground, clearly showing off while Jake eats it up. Roxy practically jumps into Dirk’s arms after Hal helps him straighten up, pressing a kiss to his cheek before jumping right into scolding him. “I told you to pack earlier so you wouldn’t freak out like this, Di-stri!” Her smile doesn’t falter, though, and Dirk hugs her back and gives her a smile in return. “I know, I should have listened to you. I’ll miss you.”

“Miss you already, man,” Dave says behind him, pulling Dirk into a bro hug that ends in a fistbump. “I promise to write as soon as I can,” Dirk offers a hug to Rose when she comes over, pulling her into his arms as Jake rocks restlessly back and forth on his heels behind them. “You’d better,” Rose says firmly, subtly passing him a small case of tea leaves. “For your nerves and the inevitable sunburn,” she murmurs, offering him a knowing smile and a pat on the shoulder. “Thanks, Rose. I’ll send over something nice from Prospit that makes me think of you. Bird bones, maybe. Werewolf snot.” She snickers as Jake impatiently tugs on his sleeve, a ball of nervous, excited, fuzzy energy beside him. “We’re going to miss the ship if we don’t hurry,” Jake prompts, and Dirk nods, waving to his siblings one last time before the two of them leave.

Dirk grabs his parasol from a hook at the entrance, knowing that he’s going to need all the protection from the sun that he can get while on a ship. He isn’t disappointed that the king showed up- in fact, he’s so relieved that he even holds Jake’s hand as the two of them walk down to the docks together, and he’s a little disappointed that Jake had to hide his tail and secondary ears again. “It’s a little embarrassing to have them out in public,” Jake mumbles, flustered the moment that Dirk points it out. “They’re a very clear indicator of how you’re feeling, which isn’t necessarily a good thing to have on display in the company of others. It’s considered irresponsible and rude, especially in the company of royals.” Dirk just shrugs, impassive as the two of them walk up the gangplank together.

“Have you ever been on a ship before, Strider? I find that the sea is more of a comfort than the land sometimes, it’s ever-changing and yet the same no matter how many different angles you may see it in. It’s beautiful.” Jake nearly waxes poetic as he steps onto the ship, pretending to swoon into Dirk’s arms as crew members draw up the plank behind them. “I’ve never sailed before, not on the ocean. And I guess it could be really pretty in some places, but in Derse the sea just looks gloomy and cold.” Jake shrugs, and the two of them follow a deckhand to their room. They’re sharing a room again, of course, but this room has one bed and one hammock. 

“I’ll take the hammock,” Dirk offers, still new to the way the ship tilts under his feet, nearly stumbling into Jake, who cheerfully sets him upright again. “Are you sure? Sleeping in a hammock on a ship like this can be awfully disorienting for those who aren’t used to the sea. I really do suggest that you take the bed.” 

“It’s cool. You probably need the bed more than I do, since you’ll be sleeping at night,” Dirk says with a shrug, clinging to Jake as the ship begins leaving the port. “How are you so steady?” He accuses, even more flustered as Jake settles his warm hands over Dirk’s arms to hold him. Jake’s secondary ears flick up under his hair, tilting back in amusement as he grins down at Dirk. “Because I’ve been sailing before, my dear vampire husband, and I have my steady sea legs to help me out. You, on the other hand, seem to be swooning right into my arms. Have you fallen for me already?” Dirk scoffs, his face warm as he tries to push Jake away. “Shut up. Fuck off. Your breath stinks, let me go before I get sick.” Jake just snickers and affectionately nuzzles his cheek into Dirk’s hair, causing the shorter man to freeze up. “It’s alright, you know, I’ve quite warmed up to you as well after all this time. Half a year is a long time to know someone, you know! I think we’re friends, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” Dirk says, breathless as his head spins from the proximity. Jake’s hands are curled around Dirk’s upper arms, warm and firm against him as his breath ghosts across Dirk’s hair. “I’d say we’re friends, too. I… um.” Jake hums in question, trying to get Dirk to finish his thoughts as he rubs his cheek against Dirk’s head. “What are you doing?” His hands come up to hold Jake’s wrists, incredibly flustered as he tries to tilt his head up to meet Jake’s eyes. There’s a deep, rumbling sound coming from Jake’s chest, but Dirk doesn’t think it’s a growl. If anything, he might be doing something similar to _purring,_ only pulling his head back to smile down at Dirk. His pupils are wider than usual from what Dirk can see before Jake closes his eyes, slowly moving along with the sea and pressing his forehead to Dirk’s.

It’s a quiet moment, alone together in the room that the two of them are going to share, swaying with the rock of the boat against the waves. Jake is clearly enjoying himself, tilting his head so that the side of his nose is up against Dirk’s. It would be a nicer moment if Dirk wasn’t getting so nauseous, his stomach rolling once a particularly rough wave crests against the side of the boat and rocks it a little rougher. “Jake,” Dirk warns, his voice wavering in the quiet, “I’m gonna be sick, man, you gotta move before I hurl all over you.” Jake immediately lets go and steps back, a quick sweep of his eyes over Dirk to try and see what’s going on before he pulls the two of them out of the room and into the chilly ocean air. 

Dirk’s head spins and he stumbles a bit before Jake’s hands find him again, swiftly guiding him to the side of the boat before his stomach overturns and empties itself into the cold, rolling ocean below. Jake tries hard not to laugh at the pallid look on Dirk’s face, leaving one hand on his shoulder as the other comes up to physically cover his smile. “Oh, you poor thing, you’re going to feel a bit sick for the first week of travel since you’re not as used to it as I am. Don’t worry, though, I’m here to help! I know how to stave off some of the more overwhelming symptoms. Here, up you get, let's get you to bed. I’ll bring you something to eat later, but for now you should lie down for a while and get used to the motion of the ship.” Dirk groans as he tries to cling to the side of the ship, but Jake is stronger than he is and drags him back to their room as Dirk half-heartedly complains. 

Tucking Dirk into bed is surprisingly easy, and he curls up without a fight once Jake wraps the thick blankets around him. Jake takes a moment to brush the hair out of Dirk’s face before he gets up to leave, looking around for a bucket just in case Dirk pukes again. It would be good to have something on hand to make sure that their room doesn’t get gross on their first day there. He pointedly avoids asking the Alternians aboard for a bucket, not wanting to embarrass himself in front of the crew just yet. When he comes back, Dirk is asleep, and a storm is rolling in on the horizon, so Jake leaves the bucket at the foot of the bed and goes down into the hold to see what food he can bring up to Dirk that won’t upset his stomach. It’s going to be a long night.

* * *

Dirk wakes up with the immediate need to throw up, leaning over the side of the bed to heave-- right into a bucket that Jake is holding under his chin. The boat is rocking violently beneath them, and he flinches at a loud clap of thunder that rattles through the room. Dirk tries to speak, coughing and shivering from the cold. “Shhh,” Jake murmurs to him as he sets the bucket down, rubbing Dirk’s back in an attempt to help him feel better. “There’s a storm raging on outside at the moment, don’t try to get up. You might be more than just seasick, love, so try to go back to sleep.” Dirk just nods and pulls the blankets around him again, shivering as the rain pelts the wood all around them. Jake keeps one hand on Dirk’s back in soothing circles and the other on the handle of the bucket, though he’s not sure if Dirk has anything else in him to get rid of.

The storm passes almost two hours later, leaving everything above deck soaked in rainwater and several barrels full of drinking water to say for it. When Dirk wakes up again, he feels a lot better than before- though still groggy and tired. It’s better than being soggy, at least, and he yawns as he sits up on the side of the bed and looks around for Jake, who isn’t in the room at the moment. The bucket is gone as well, but there is a plate of orange slices, what looks like a chunk of ham, and some crackers on the bedside table. He’s not sure that he can manage meat or the acidity of the orange yet, so he settles for eating the rest of the crackers. At least it’s a royal ship that’s fully stocked with good food for the journey. 

After he’s done, he goes out to look for Jake with three of the six orange slices in his hand. They might have been left there for him, but he wawa thinking about using them as a thank you to Jake. He’s reconsidering that idea the more he searches, though, not finding Jake anywhere on deck. Eventually an irritable Alternian points up towards the crow’s nest and just grumbles at him once he tries to thank them, so he just shrugs and eats one of the orange slices before making his way up the ladder to Jake.

Dirk pauses just below the nest to watch Jake, who seems to be lost in thought as he stares out over the ocean with his glasses up in his wind-tossed hair. It’s the most peaceful Dirk has seen him so far, and the sunset paints gorgeous colors against his skin. Jake nearly startles out of his skin once Dirk clambers up into the crow’s nest with him, letting out a breath and giving him a smile once he recognizes that it’s Dirk. “You’re not wearing your glasses,” Dirk says, and Jake laughs warmly in return. “It’s nicer to watch the sunset without them. Sunsets over the ocean are absolutely delightful, don’t you think?” He sighs almost wistfully, turning his attention back to the sun and the sea below.   
“Yeah,” Dirk answers, his voice soft. “It’s really pretty.” He isn’t looking at the sunset when he speaks, but Jake is too busy admiring the sky to notice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has left comments!! Someone even left me a comment about an hour ago, which reminded me to post this. Thank you!


	10. Good Morning, Golden City

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The princes finally find themselves on the streets of Prospit. Romantic tension ensues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Getting a comment that was just “:)” is incredibly intimidating. Enjoy the new chapter!

* * *

The trip to Prospit was a rocky one, but one that Jake nonetheless enjoyed. Dirk, on the other hand, had a significantly worse time. He’d had a cold on top of being seasick, and Jake spent a lot of time helping him get over the sickness. That meant that he was in bed and out of the sun most of the time, but Dirk couldn’t help but feel bad about not helping out around the ship like Jake did. It was all too often that he would sit in the shade and watch Jake help the sailors clean, tie ropes, or simply just sing shanties until their voices grew hoarse. It’s abundantly clear how much Jake enjoyed himself as they sailed, and it’s still written in his posture as he rocks back and forth on his heels, watching the ship pull into the harbor on their final day of sailing.

“Oh, isn’t it so exciting??” He grins widely at Dirk, who is currently hiding under the thin shade of his parasol. He’d been burned a bit by the sun, his shoulders and nose darkened by the rays and flaking skin. “It’ll be exciting to see where you grew up,” Dirk answers, offering his hand out to the other who takes it eagerly. “The streets leading up to the palace are all lined with shops that merchants set up to make sure that anyone new to Prospit has the full experience, so feel free to shop around while we walk! I’m sure you’ll find some interesting items among the stalls.” Dirk shrugs, his hands full as the two of them walk down the gangplank and onto the docks.

Prospit really is gorgeous. There are winding paths stretching out in front of them, the clearest one right in the middle leading towards a thick jungle in the distance. “It’s quite the walk to the palace, but at least there’s plenty of shade in the jungle. I’ll carry you if you get tired, alright?” Jake teases, leading the two of them down the winding stone path. There are what look like houses and shops right next to each other, temporary stalls in between stone homes with signs hanging over their doors. People are walking in groups, chatting and laughing and buying and selling. Different smells and sights come from every direction, and Jake’s nose twitches as he happily pads along next to Dirk. “Anything in particular that you’re interested in yet? This is a more temporary place for marchants to set up, the most expensive and luxurious of goods out in the front for wealthy adventurers to see as soon as they hop off of the docks.” Dirk shakes his head, a little overwhelmed and Jake just hums in reply, letting go of his hand in favor of slinging his arm over Dirk’s shoulders. “Stay close to me and you won’t get lost.”

It takes them a while to stop bumping into people, the streets finally widening into something resembling a town square. A few kids are playing with a leather ball, kicking it around and chasing after each other. Most of them have secondary pairs of ears poking out of their hair, and a few of them even have horns- but not like Alternian horns. Goats, sheep, and even one with the beginnings of a deer’s horns, a lankier boy who seems to be scolding a were-frog. Jake just idly chats as the two of them walk, commentating on the merchants and the game. “Have you ever played soccer before? I used to play it all the time, before I wasn’t allowed out of the palace anymore. It’s so nice to be out on the streets in the day instead of having to sneak out at night,” Jake laughs, his voice full of fond warmth as the two of them continue their walk through the town square. Some of the people wave at the two princes as they pass, but no one stops to talk to them. “I’ve never played before,” Dirk admits, and Jake tsks at him playfully. “Well, now, that just won’t do! I’ll see if I can’t ask John to set up a game when he gets back from Alternia. He and dear Janey are off on a diplomatic sail right now, I’d just gotten their letter before we left Derse. Terrible timing, really, but it can’t be helped.” 

Not knowing what to say, Dirk doesn’t answer, only shifting his grip on Jake’s hand as they walk down the streets together. Merchants call out to the crowd as people go about their businesses, hefting potions and silks and knives and food. Jake’s gaze slides over Dirk’s shoulders before he pulls them towards a stall where a tall, goat-horned merchant is rearranging bottles of thick, shimmering liquids in crystalline vials. Jake gently knocks on the side of the stall to get their attention and smiles with a practiced charm, speaking in a language that Dirk doesn’t know as he addresses them. The smooth cadence of their conversation washes over Dirk as he adjusts the parasol in his free hand, tensing up a bit when Jake gestures to him offhandedly. 

“What are you doing..?” Dirk asks, his voice hushed as he watches Jake write something on a piece of parchment that the merchant gives him, exchanging it for a large glass potion bottle full of a deep orange liquid. “Buying you a gift!” Jake says as easily as commenting on the weather, flashing Dirk a bright smile before thanking the merchant and pulling them along towards the jungle again. “You’ll need it, since Prospit is so much sunnier than Derse.” He slips the bottle into a pocket lining the inside of his thin coat, which Dirk now understands is there to keep the sun off of him, and shrugs. “Well, alright. Can’t wait to see what it is. Does everyone here speak a different language than standard English and Alternian?” 

“Not exactly! Lots of people here speak Spanish or Latin or Arabic, and I’ve learned to pick up a few things. It can’t hurt to be able to hold a conversation wherever you go, you know! It’s nice to be able to talk to people.” Dirk doesn’t agree on that one, but it is cool to know a few languages other than the ones everyone knows. The Alternian language is a lot more guttural than he thought when he was first learning it, harsh consonants and hissing vowels, clicks and chirps that translate into whole sentences if used correctly. He wonders what languages Jake knows, lost in thought until they reach the edge of the jungle. The dark, earthy path that stretches out in front of them supposedly leads up to the palace, and a bright yellow warning sign is written in a script that he doesn’t know. The skull seems to be a good place to start, though, and Dirk is only a little bit alarmed when Jake continues on without even a glance. “Hey, hold on a second. What does that sign say?”

Jake looks up at it and reads for a second before cheerily reporting, “Danger, monsters. Proceed at your own risk,” and continuing on into the jungle forest. The woods are dense and thick, the shapes of the trees coalescing into a wash of deep, rich browns. It’s dark enough under the heavy foliage above that Dirk could put his parasol down if he wanted to but that would require two hands- and Jake seems very adamant on holding his. “Monsters?” Dirk asks after a few minutes, nervous energy rising as he glances around furtively. “Indeed!” Jake beams, seeming completely unbothered. “There are monsters in these woods, massive hulking beasts that our family has hunted for years. It’s rumored that they may be of lusus descent, but we can’t be sure without having the bones of lusus present for comparison. And I’m sure you know just how rude it would be to ask a troll for their lusus’ bones!” He laughs and Dirk shakes his head, a little awed at Jake’s indifference.

* * *

They continue to walk on for quite some time, branches in the path completely ignored as Jake walks on. He clearly knows where to go, and Dirk doesn’t dare say anything. It’s out of his hands now, and all he can do is trust that Jake knows what he’s doing and won’t get lost. He pauses at a fork in the path, glancing one way and then the other. He looks almost wistfully down the left path before turning right, ducking under a branch that threatens to smack him in the face. “I wish I could take you to the lake, but we don’t have time for that just yet. Maybe tomorrow,” he murmurs, running his thumb over the back of Dirk’s hand as the palace comes into view. It’s  _ huge, _ towering golden spires stretching upwards into the sky. Gargoyles sit perched atop a few of the edges, all of them frog-like and amphibious in nature. Something that looks like an astronomer’s tower sits just to the right of the palace, a massive stone tower with a circular top that looks almost out of place next to the elegantly wrought palace gates. 

“That’s Jade’s greenhouse!” Jake pipes up once he catches Dirk staring. “I have an identical tower, but it’s behind the castle just adjacent to the gardens so it’s easier for me to access. I spend a  _ lot  _ of time gardening. It’s nice, and the pumpkins are lovely to look at as they grow.” Dirk just nods, a little overwhelmed with how bright the castle is to look at, and warily eyes the guards that stand out front. Jake just simply offers them a wave as they approach the castle, one of the guards saying something to Jake before the gates are opened for them. “Oh, good, our luggage is already here. It was nice of the people on the ship to bring it up for us.” Upon entering the castle, Jake opens his mouth to say something- before he is immediately barrelled over by two huge white dogs. He sputters and tries to shove them off, laughing, and someone with thick, curly hair comes down the stairs with a huge smile. 

“Welcome home!!” She laughs, affectionately watching Jake struggle before she turns her gaze to Dirk. “Say hi to Halley and Bec! Halley is Jake’s baby, and Bec is mine. I’m Jade!” Dirk bows politely, putting his parasol away properly now that he has his hand back. “It’s nice to meet you,” he says politely, glancing down once he sees that one of the dogs- the one with the light green collar- is sniffing at his shoes. “That’s Bec,” says Jake from the floor, warmly ruffling Halley’s fur as the dog lays on top of him. “She’s such a sweetheart, go ahead and pet her! The only thing that bites here is Jade, so watch your fingers,” he snickers, sticking his tongue out at his sister as she approaches. “And don’t you forget it,” she warns, her grin sharp as she pulls him to his feet. He snorts and pulls her into a tight hug, and Dirk looks away from their private moment and turns his attention to the dogs. 

The siblings talk to each other as Dirk sits down on the floor, letting the dogs look over him as Bec sniffs at his sunburnt shoulders. “Don’t lick that, you’ll get dead skin in your mouth,” Dirk murmurs, gently pushing her muzzle away from him. She chuffs and sets her head in his lap, Halley padding off into the foyer once he loses interest in Dirk. Jake turns towards Dirk with renewed vigor, faltering when he doesn’t see Dirk at shoulder level and lowering his gaze. “Ah, there you are, that reminds me. I bought you some soothing sunscreen, would you like to go up to my room and put some on? It’s pretty heavy duty stuff, so it should be quite effective for you.” Jade snorts from his side as Jake offers Dirk the bottle, putting a hand on his arm. “Go show him where your room is, you big dummy. He doesn’t know the way!” Jake blinks, and then snickers at himself as Dirk gets to his feet.

“Right, of course, uhm, right this way,” Jake flushes, embarrassed, and walks off towards the staircase in the center of the room. Dirk waves to Jade as they leave, getting a wave back before she walks off in the direction that Halley went. They walk down the long hallways until the walls start to look cluttered, paintings along every inch of the walls and some trinkets hung on slightly askew shelves. This must be Jake’s doing, it looks like something that he would do. They both come to a door at the end of the hallway which swings open smoothly, and Jake steps inside with a cheery flourish. “Come and look, love, isn’t it cool?” 

When Dirk steps inside, he is so overwhelmed by the gaudy, tacky  _ everything  _ that he doesn’t even notice Jake locking the door behind them. The walls are covered in the ugliest wallpaper he has ever seen, his bed stacked high with stuffed animals, blankets, and pillows, and his desk- dear fucking lord, there is no way he gets anything done on that, there are papers crumpled on the floor and overflowing out of a wire basket underneath. There are several shelves stocked with bedazzled skulls, jewels embedded in the eye sockets and replacing teeth. Not all of the skulls are humanlike, however, and there is a horse skull hanging by the window where vines are growing through the panes. The whole room is so Jake it’s almost unbearable. “What do you think?” Jake grins, clearly amused with his reaction.

“Just looking at it all gives me a headache. It’s the best thing I’ve ever seen,” Dirk deadpans, getting a loud, pleased laugh from Jake. “Oh, you flatter me. Here, sit down on the bed, I’ll put some sunscreen on those pretty shoulders of yours, you poor thing. You’re so crispy,” he snickers, teasing as Dirk obediently walks over to the bed, shoves the blankets aside, and takes a seat. Jake shrugs his coat off and drops it to the floor, the bottle in his hand as he walks over to the bed and moves to sit behind Dirk, his legs on either side of the smaller man’s. “Relax,” he murmurs, uncorking the bottle with a loud pop and pouring a bit over his hands, “you’re more tense than you were before. Don’t make yourself sick again.”

Dirk swallows thickly and tries to relax, immediately worried about Jake pointing out the straps of his binder… but it doesn’t come. Even when Jake’s hands find his shoulders he tenses, but Jake’s touch is gentle and practiced as he smooths out his hands against the aching skin. The oil is pleasantly warm and his hands even moreso, and Dirk has to bite his cheek to try and suppress a pleased shudder. “Relax,” Jake prompts softly from behind him, pressing his fingers into Dirk’s skin and massaging the oil in. “I don’t do ‘relaxation,’ Jake, I dunno if you’ve noticed,” he hisses as Jake’s fingers press over a sore spot, the tension ebbing from him despite his protests. Jake presses a soft kiss to the back of Dirk’s neck to shut him up, his face flushing at the warm gestures of affection.

When Jake is done with Dirk’s shoulders, his hands move up to press against the back of his neck, drawing a hitched breath from Dirk’s chest. “Don’t strangle me,” Dirk half-jokes as Jake thumbs along the sides just under his ears. All he gets is a soft hum in response from Jake, who’s concentrating very firmly on massaging the oil over every aching patch of skin until it feels better. He can feel Dirk’s tension under his fingers, the thick smell of his nervous apprehension palpable in the air between them. “I won’t,” he murmurs, moving a bit behind Dirk to find a more comfortable position. “Do you mind if I move in front of you to get at your face? Your nose and cheeks are sunburnt as well, I’ll be quick about it.” Dirk nods, hoping that his face isn’t warm enough to give him away, and Jake moves off of the bed to stand in front of him.

When Jake kneels on the bed on either side of Dirk, dipping the mattress below them, the space between them immediately becomes more charged. Dirk is practically holding his breath as Jake puts his thumbs to Dirk’s cheeks, smoothing the oil over his face in slow, gentle movements. Dirk moves his hands up to rest on Jake’s arms, trying to balance himself without leaning back too far. He could lean in and kiss Jake right now, but he doesn’t know how well it would be received, so he restrains himself. A sudden strike of anxiety shivers up his back as he recalls Rose’s words from before- is this the opportunity that he should take? Is this the moment that could further their relationship?

Jake gives Dirk a charming smile when he pulls his hands away, Dirk’s breath catching in his throat as Jake leans in- and kisses his forehead. “There you go, all better. I suggest reapplying to any places that are still sore tomorrow and avoiding the sun for a day or so while that heals, okay? Now you’re a guest in  _ my  _ home, so it’s my duty to take care of you.” Dirk opens his mouth to refute that, but closes it once he sees how fond the look on Jake’s face is. He’s practically straddling Dirk with his hands on the vampire’s face, but his eyes couldn’t be softer. “Don’t look at me like that,” Dirk mutters, embarrassed, and Jake just gives him a soft laugh. “You fluster so easily. We aren’t even married yet and you shy away from me like you expect me to do something stupid. I’m not going to hurt you, you know.” Jake’s tone is deceptively soft, but when Dirk looks up to meet his eyes, there’s a cautious hesitance that reflects back at him. “Do you think that I’m scared of you, Jake?” Dirk asks, blunt enough to startle Jake in his lap. He pretends that it isn’t very distracting to feel Jake’s thighs tighten around his waist when Jake moves, thinking over his words.

“I think that a healthy dose of fear would do you good. I won’t willingly hurt you, but I can’t promise that I won’t get carried away and lose myself. I don’t want to hurt you, but the possibility of doing so in an accident is… a little too ubiquitous, I’m afraid.” His hands rest heavily on Dirk’s shoulders as his tail droops against Dirk’s legs, firmly avoiding the gaze of the man that he’s seated on. Dirk’s hands reach up and cup Jake’s face, his expression firm and resolute as their eyes meet. “I won’t let you hurt me. I didn’t let you before, and it won’t happen in the future, either. All we have to worry about is getting along and preventing a war and maybe even falling in love, who knows. All I can say is that so long as you’re here with me to help me adjust to Prospit, I’ll be fine and I might even have fun. So stop worrying so much, you get lines on your forehead that’ll stick forever if you keep furrowing your eyebrows like that.”

Jake brings a hand up to hide his snicker, using the back of his hand to prevent smearing oil across his face as his eyes shift with his smile. Dirk takes a moment to drink in the sight of him- the secondary ears barely poking out of his curly hair, his cheeks and ears flushed from proximity, the soft thump of his tail against Dirk’s calf… He could live with this forever, easily. And in fact, he’s looking forward to it, he thinks, gently wrapping his fingers around Jake’s wrist to pull his hand away from his face.

Jake looks even more flustered once Dirk pulls his hand down to his mouth, kissing his knuckles and never ceasing their eye contact. “Can I kiss you?” Dirk murmurs, his other hand coming to rest on the joint of Jake’s hip and upper thigh, making Jake twitch under his palm. “I, er, uhm, well,” Jake sputters, trying to break eye contact with no avail. “I’m not, well, I’m, uhm. I don’t mind, per say, but, um, this is a rather… what a position we’re in, Strider, is this really appropriate?”

Dirk shrugs, pulling Jake’s hand down to his side as his other hand slides up Jake’s waist, a subtle thrill shuddering up his spine at the way Jake shivers at his touch. “I don’t mind. I just want to kiss you, if that’s okay.” They’re both inches away from the other, with Jake having one hand in Dirk’s and the other on his shoulder as Dirk’s thumbs rub circles into Jake’s skin- one on his wrist and the other on his waist, occasionally getting a shudder from the taller boy as his tail wags harder behind him. 

“Yes,” Jake whispers, his voice wavering as his hand tighten onto Dirk, “yes, please. Kiss me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hit 20k words from the last chapter :00 megapog


	11. Garden Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A kiss leads to some mutual embarrassment, a walk and talk in the Prospitian gardens, and the first full moon rares its head much sooner than anticipated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is Much earlier than most of my updates but I got a handful of comments just a few hours after posting the 10th chapter so 😳✌️ Here you go!! Happy Halloween!!

* * *

The kiss is soft, despite their chapped lips, and Jake’s legs tighten around Dirk’s waist as he tilts his head to meet the other halfway, a soft keening sound pulled from the back of his throat. Neither of them know where to put their hands, so Jake settles for putting his arms over Dirk’s shoulders as Dirk rests his hands on Jake’s hips. It’s uncoordinated, with Jake pressing a little too close to him as they both try to find a better angle together. Dirk’s breathing is more controlled than Jake’s, who seems to be getting a little too excited on top of Dirk’s lap as he whines, nearly tipping them over backwards as he pushes closer and closer. A sudden jolt from Jake has him growling loudly from the back of his throat when Dirk’s teeth catch his lip, startling them both and pulling away from the kiss to lick his blood off of his own lips. “Ouch,” he mutters, not really hurt, but thoroughly enjoying watching Dirk’s face flush from embarrassment.

“Sorry, I didn’t- fuck. Does it hurt? I wasn’t thinking, I just wanted to kiss you,” Dirk’s hands still lay heavily on Jake’s sides, his fingers tightening against the soft material of his shirt. Jake just shrugs, bringing a hand up in an attempt to touch his lips before he pulls back, remembering the oil on his fingers. “It’s fine, we were both a little, ah… excited. Let me go and wash this off really quickly,” he sighs, trying to play it casual as they both pointedly refuse to look down when Jake stands up and heads for the bathroom, both of them embarrassed and a bit over-excited from just a few seconds of kissing.

Once the door to the bathroom closes, Dirk lays back on Jake’s bed and stares at his hands, the warmth of Jake’s skin still tingling against his fingers. He swallows thickly, remembering the warmth of Jake’s own hands pressed into his skin across his shoulders and heating his face. He chews on his lip as he thinks about how Jake had shifted closer to him in his lap once he was bitten, curious about how Jake had felt when they’d kissed, if he had enjoyed being bitten more than he’d let on. He brings a hand up to his own lips, flustered, and tries the hardest he can to keep his sudden smile under control. 

Jake sinks down with his back pressed to the door once he closes it behind him, wiping his hands on his pants before putting his face in his hands. His tail curls over his legs as he wrestles with the emotions warring within him, his secondary ears pressed flat to his skull. He presses his tongue to the cut on his lip, a rush of embarrassment and shamefully horny feelings pushing to the surface. He takes the time to ‘calm down’ in the bathroom before washing his hands and fixing his hair, stepping out into the room about a half hour later to find Dirk fidgeting with something metal on his bed.

“Sorry about that,” Jake says as he sits down next to Dirk, looking over the other man’s shoulder at the metal fidget toy in his hands. “Didn’t mean to take so long.” Dirk shrugs, working his fingers through the grooves of the toy until it clicks, the box unfolding open to show hooks designed to keep the toy closed. “Do you want to see the garden? We could also go hiking later on, since it’ll rain later today. We get a lot of rain in the springtime.”

“Sure thing,” Dirk says distractedly, putting the toy back together before slipping it into his pocket. “Lets walk and talk.” He moves to get up before noticing that Jake went stiff, turning to look at the boy on his bed. “Is something wrong?” Jake shakes his head, standing up and tucking his tail back into his pants. 

“No, nothing. I do want to ask you a few things about your vampirism, though, if you don’t mind?” Dirk shrugs, offering his hand to Jake before the two of them walk out of the room, hand in tentative hand. “So!” starts Jake, clearly nervous about something, “Vampirism. I’m a little embarrassed to say that I don’t know much about it. Could you… um. Your teeth,” he falters, turning his face away as they continue to walk down the halls.

Dirk snorts, endeared by Jake’s embarrassment. “Yeah, teeth. It’s more of a snake-like thing than a bat-like thing, depending on the kind of vampire you are. There are ‘tiers’ of vampirism, like how were-people define the endocrine systems and secondary sex. You guys have that alpha beta et cetera schtick, and we define the tiers as first and second, and then it splits off into those who can shift into bats and those who can shift into cats,” he explains, letting go of Jake’s hand as the other turns towards an elegant pair of glass doors to unlock them and lead them into the garden. 

“The first tier of vampirism is the baby stage. You just got bit or you’ve only been a vampire for about a few years. Mostly children go through this one. You can’t shift yet, and it lasts for about twenty years until the secondary tier. This is where most young adults are. You can shift into either a bat or a cat, and that determines if you can go to the third or fourth tier. The third tier are cats, and fourth are bats. Me and my brother are bats, the rest of my siblings are cats- Hal, Rose, and Roxy.”

* * *

As they step out into the garden, Dirk pauses in his explanation to take a look around. It’s a massive, acres-wide lay of land stretching out in front of them. The first ten, fifteen feet are covered by a light cream-colored canopy above, held up by wooden poles in certain spots around the garden. It seems to be a vegetable garden section with vines in neat rows, wrapped around thinner poles and bearing strange shapes of different bright orange-red-yellow hues. To their immediate left and right, but in the far distance, there are picket fences and wire fences separating sections of garden, as well as huge hedges that square off other parts of it that seem to be more flora than fauna and food.

“The first three sections are to our left, front, and right, all containing vegetables,” Jake explains, gesturing out in front of them. “Then there’s the grapes to the further left, as well as the winery, and then further to our front past the first gate is the entrance to the floral garden and the hedge maze past that, and then to the further right is the start of the orchards, which spread on for miles. Past the winery is more vegetable garden, and then parts of the hedge maze. If you get through the hedge maze it leads towards the horse stables, or you can just go around if you don’t mind being close to the fence.”

“Horse stables?” Dirk asks, immediately intrigued. Jake just laughs, giving him an amused look as he starts to lead them down the stone path through the middle of the vegetable garden. “You didn’t tell me you had horse stables at the palace.” 

“I’ll take you to see the horses after you tell me about how vampirism works, yeah? An exchange of something we’re both interested in,” Jake grins, reaching down to hold Dirk’s hand in his own as they walk further towards the hedge maze. Dirk sighs, hiding his smile, but continues on with what he was saying earlier. “Only adults can turn other people into vampires. I use ‘people’ loosely as it has to be specifically a non-magic creature, like a human, so since I’m not an ‘adult’-- you have to be, like, a hundred thousand years old to start forming the venom in your fangs for that-- and you’re a magical creature, I couldn’t turn you if I tried.”

Dirk catches Jake’s glance down at his mouth, and he playfully bares his teeth up at the other man as they walk. “A vampire’s canines sort of ‘grow’ when they get excited or feel something very strongly. It’s why you’ll see a vampire cover their mouth when they’re flustered, or why biting is such a huge romantic thing. Were-creatures have their own biting thing, and we have something pretty similar to that.” Jake takes a deep breath and looks away, clearly flustered as his secondary pair of ears twitch from where he’s hidden them in his hair.

“So you caught my lip on your teeth when we were kissing because you got excited,” he murmurs, trying to keep his voice even despite the clear delight in his tone. Dirk swallows down a laugh and nods, running his thumb over the back of Jake’s hand. As soon as they step into the hedge maze together, though, the scene around them drastically darkens. “Don’t worry, I know how to get through this. I’ve gone through the maze enough times to know it blindfolded,” Jake grins, tightening his grip on Dirk’s hand.

“I wouldn’t let you guide me into the maze if I doubted you,” Dirk replies coolly, continuing his information dump. “Vampires that are in their late teens or early adulthood develop a special sort of venom that can be injected into anyone that they bite. It can go one of two ways- a painful, paralyzing venom, or a cold, calming feeling that soothes the bite. The intention behind the bite is crucial to determining which one it’s going to be. Only bats have the venom, however.”

Jake seems more and more interested the more Dirk talks about biting, his own teeth worrying at his lip as Dirk talks. He doesn’t seem to be focused on guiding them, but he does lead them through several turns without hitting a single dead-end yet. He’s also barefoot when Dirk looks down in embarrassment, determined not to get caught staring at the other. “How does the, um, well. You know how a marriage bond is consummated between werewolves, right? Since you know about the biting. So how is it done for… you?”

“Oh,” Dirk swallows thickly, fidgeting with his grip on Jake’s hand. “I’m sure you’ve noticed that no one in my family has the classic two-hole in the neck that’s usually seen on most stereotypical vampires. It’s… just like how were-people will bite their mate on a certain part of their neck as a, um. A ‘mating bond,’ it’s pretty much the same for vampires. They get the permanent two-hole bite on their neck if they… well. Yeah.” Jake pauses in his walk to take a deep, shuddering breath, bringing his free hand up to his face- which is notably redder. “We can stop talking about it if it’s-- if it’s too much.”

Jake nods, and the topic is dropped for now. It’ll inevitably come back up eventually, since they’ll be married in a few months and expected to consummate said marriage to unite their kingdoms, but that’s not for a long while. For now, Jake just guides them quietly through the maze, reaching his hand out against the leaves as they walk. Eventually they come out and step into a vast field of flowers, paths set deep into the ground between each row to guide them wherever they wish to go. To their left, a little ways away, is a place that looks like a barn, wheat and corn stalks waving in the breeze. To their right is a thick field full of grass and various fruit trees, the fence so distant that it’s barely a white line amidst the heavy backdrop of dark jungle trees.

“The barn is closer, but you’re welcome to choose which way to go,” Jake says in response to Dirk’s glance around, “we can go and get a snack in the orchards first before seeing the horses, if you’d like! I’m sure they wouldn’t mind being brought some apples as well, though I’m not sure when they were last fed. It’ll be marked off on a calendar when we get there, so no worries on that account.” Dirk takes a moment to think it out, glancing at the overcast sky above before pulling Jake along the path towards the orchard fields.

“Let’s get some snacks,” he grins, and Jake gives him a sunburst of a smile as they walk together once more.

* * *

It’s a few more hours of playing around together with the horses and teaching Dirk how to properly ride before they head back to the hedge maze, the sun setting on the horizon as a storm kicks up overhead. They make it a game to see who can shove the other through a hedge as they run together, Dirk eventually stumbling over his own feet and getting immediately put halfway through a hedge. Jake’s laugh makes up for his ruined hair, even though he has to pick twigs out of it every so often as they walk. “Maybe tomorrow I can bring you up to the lake and show you the cave! It’s a nice little hiding place that me and John would go to get away from any royal duties we hated, like sparring and laundry day.”

Dirk nearly chokes on his own spit as he laughs, imagining little Jake running away from having to do chores. “What’s so bad about laundry day? Is it because you have buttons in the back of your pants for your tails?” Jake shoots him a look that is half-dark and half-playful, a sort of ‘you don’t want to know’ look as he breaks out into a fit of giggles. “Laundry day is a dark day for all of us. Nana never lets the servants do the laundry because she wants us to be able to do our chores ourselves, but dear fucking lord is it a ton of clothes.”

The conversation dips for a bit before it starts to pour, the two of them laughing as they try to run back inside without slipping and falling in the mud. The canopy over the first section of the garden is a roof over their heads as they fall to the ground together, Dirk having tripped Jake and caused him to pull Dirk down with him as he fell. Their laughter is muted by the sounds of the rain around them, a loud and sudden crack of lightning making Jake yelp and hide his face in the crook of Dirk’s neck. Derse hardly gets thunderstorms, but Prospit is a jungle-infested, lush green island that gets near-constant downpours in the spring while everything is blooming. 

“Afraid of the thunder?” Dirk teases, carding a hand through Jake’s wet hair to rub his thumb against the base of one of his furred ears, making him shudder and press closer. “I don’t particularly take kindly to sudden loud noises,” he grouses, wrapping his arms around Dirk’s waist as the two of them lay on the path. “I had fun today, though. It was a nice date, as dates go,” he murmurs, his mouth suddenly too close to Dirk’s neck, and Dirk freezes.

“A date?” He asks, breathless. The hand not in Jake’s hair moves to his back, pressing against the other man’s soaked-through shirt. “Didn’t realize that we were on our first date already.” Jake shrugs and makes a noncommittal noise in his throat, the vibrations from the sound thrumming in his chest. Dirk can feel it, from how close they’re pressed together, and it’s certainly doing something for him. “Anyways. I had fun too, and I’m glad that I got to see your garden. I’d love to go with you to the lake and see the caves with you tomorrow, if my legs aren’t too sore from walking all over the place already.”

“I’ll carry you if you’re too sore,” Jake says, and it’s as easy as that. It takes a moment for them to both get up off of the ground, helping each other up as they walk back inside to find Jade in the hallway, her arms crossed and white tail flicking irritably behind her. “Oh,” Jake says, his voice meek and full of embarrassment, “sorry Jade, I don’t mean to track dirt inside.” She chuffs at him and he bows his head, ears pressed flat against his hair as he takes off his dirt-stained jacket and hands it to her, Dirk doing the same.

“Now don’t think I’m letting you off this easy,” she warns, though her tone is light and playful as she takes the jackets. “You still have to be present for laundry day after the full moon tomorrow, and--”   
“ _ Tomorrow?? _ ” Jake interrupts, clearly stricken at the thought of it. “Dear fucking starless night, I thought it was next week, I haven’t even prepared anything!” Jade just shakes her head and sighs, giving Dirk a sympathetic look before she leaves, tossing a few words over her shoulder as she goes. “Don’t worry about it! The hunt doesn’t even start until sundown, you’ll have plenty of time to hide him somewhere you won’t find him. Good night!” Jake whines as he worries at his lip, his teeth leaving an indent where he bites as he paces in front of the garden doors, his thoughts racing. Dirk sets a gentle hand on his arm to stop him when he passes the other, giving him a stern look.

“I told you I’d be careful and safe while you all did your thing. Put a little faith in me, okay? It’s going to be just fine.” Jake just nods, offering his hand out to Dirk once more before they both climb the stairs up to Jake’s room. Dirk averts his gaze to give Jake a little privacy as he strips, tossing his clothes into a tall basket in the corner of his room as Dirk shuffles through his luggage for clean clothes to sleep in. “I can always go and ask for another room if you don’t want me to sleep in yours,” he offers, hoping that Jake turns him down.

“I think I’d rather have you sleep in here with me,” Jake murmurs through a yawn, pulling a shirt over his head and climbing into bed in his boxers. “Is that weird? I feel like I’ve finally grown used to sleeping with you by my side, and I’d hate to mess that up now.”   
“It’s not weird,” Dirk says, smiling in the soft lamplight as he extinguishes the flame on Jake’s nightstand and climbs into bed with him. “In fact, I could say the same thing. It’s nice to sleep with- next to you. Goodnight, man.”

“Goodnight, Dirk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I were to make a separate fic of just the times that I could have put nsfw in here, would you all read it? Or should I just post “bonus chapters” and rearrange the fic a bit? I was seriously considering adding nsfw for this chapter but didn’t know how well it would be received, so let me know :0


	12. Letters, The Hunt, and Teeth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first Prospitian full moon rolls around and Dirk finally sees what really happens when Jake shifts with his family. Dirk receives some concerning letters from his siblings, and tensions rise between kingdoms despite the day of the wedding being only a few months away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry about this update being Super late, things have been pretty busy and my motivation for this fic hasn’t been what it was at the beginning T~T I will be finishing this fic though! As well as writing the new one I posted last week  
> CW for this chapter: Off-screen animal death, & Dirk gets a little injured, but there’s no in-depth gore

* * *

Prospit is pretty nice, all things considered. And by ‘all things,’ Dirk doesn’t mean the weird lusus-like creatures that roam in the jungle just outside the palace walls. Those things aren’t included in the count, no fucking thank you. It is nice, however, to finally be able to kiss Jake after months of tense talks and skirting around the issues of their predetermined relationship. Dirk finds it very enjoyable to sneak a kiss onto his boyfriend (is he allowed to call Jake his boyfriend? He’s not sure) and watch him get flustered and stumble over his words. Then again, Jake does the same thing to him, so they’re even.

Not everything good can last, though, and Dirk knows this even when Jake tries to avoid it. He’s gotten a few letters from his siblings upon his arrival, and he pours over them the night that Jake is off getting help preparing for the full moon that night. It seems that the king of Derse plans on trying to raid Prospit on the third month of Dirk’s stay there and take him back by force, as well as taking Jake as well. From what Hal says, which isn’t always reliable, the king plans to use Dirk from the inside as a spy and take Prospit’s crown from the inside. That’s not going to happen, though, and Dirk tosses the letter into the fireplace with disgust as Jake steps back into the room- hardly clothed.

“You’ll need to stay here tonight, or if you do plan to come with me, I suggest following along as a bat from a distance. I don’t want you getting hurt or caught up in the hunt,” Jake starts off, interrupting Dirk before he can get a word in. “And I won’t hear another word about it, Strider, I’m serious. I knocked you flat on your ass the first time you saw me shift, and I caught you even though I had the potion to help keep me calm. I don’t have that this time, and I can’t promise your safety.” 

Dirk holds up a hand to stop him, checking the window over his shoulder for the time. The sun is just beginning to set, so he tries to make this quick. “Listen, Jake. We need to have a serious talk after this, about the marriage and Derse and Prospit, and the war we were supposed to prevent. I got some pretty nasty news today, and I need your help sorting it out. But, on the matters of the full moon tonight, I promise not to get in the way. I just want to see how it is when it’s… natural. I won’t get caught.”

Jake visibly relaxes, his shoulders slumping as he fixes the belt of the skirt around his waist. All he’s wearing is a white skirt, sandals, and some kind of rope slung loosely around his torso. Dirk gives him a once-over that makes Jake flush, fidgeting under Dirk’s gaze. “Don’t look at me like that,” he mumbles, picking at the rope around him. “It’s hard to carry things when you don’t have thumbs, so we’ve found a way to tie the spoils to ourselves. It’s not a kink thing.” Giving him a shrug and a thumbs up, Dirk just turns back to the desk and continues writing his letter. Quiet enough to be mistaken for him talking to himself, Dirk says, “It could be a kink thing if you want it to be,” pulling another flustered sound from Jake before he turns tail and leaves in a hurry.

Dirk, upon finishing his letter, seals it with hot wax and sends it on it’s way before following Jake down into the foyer, where the three royals of Prospit stand. It’s the first time that Dirk has seen the queen- ‘Nana,’ Jake had called her. Jake and Jade’s grandmother, whose hair is even longer and wilder than Jade’s, streaked with grey and tied back as opposed to laying free like Jade’s. Her eyes are sharp despite her age, and the way her gaze pierces through Dirk when he steps closer makes him fix his posture instinctively.

“Come here, boy, let me get a good look at you,” she waves him over, and he obeys, his boots thumping quietly against the floor. Her nails are filed neatly into claws, her glasses a little crooked where they rest on her nose, and she has the same weird rope harness that Jake does. Dirk stiffens when she puts her hand on his shoulder, trying to keep eye contact despite the nervous energy shooting up the back of his spine. “You look scrawny as shit,” she says, blunt, and fixes him with a sharp smile. “Stay out of the hunt, boy, you’d be no good for Jake if you were dead.” 

“Um,” Dirk replies, eloquent as ever, “okay. Sure. I’m not going to interfere, and I’ll stay far enough away that you can’t catch me.” The queen just nods and lets go of his shoulder, stepping back to gesture for Jade and Jake to leave. The doors to the front of the palace are opened by two tall guards that let the two of them leave, Jake and Dirk sharing a look before the doors are closed once more, leaving Dirk and Nana to talk alone.

“I should let you know that I’ll be much more in control than they will be,” she sighs, standing up a little straighter. “Rest assured that if either of them lose themselves to their instincts, I can always step in and help so that you don’t get hurt.” Dirk takes a moment to smooth out his wrinkled shirt before nodding, trying his damn best to seem calm, cool, and collected. She just gives him a knowing smile before the two of them head out of the castle to meet up with Jade and Jake- who are already at the edge of the jungle, shifted and play-fighting with each other as they wait.

Jade is a little bigger than Jake, her fur streaked with white tufts on her ears, sides, and tail. Her fur is a darker brown than Jake’s as well, more curly and thick around her face. She needs a haircut in this form nearly as much as she does in her usual one, nipping at Jake when he tries to approach her, growling playfully as they tussle in the dirt. When Dirk and Nana step out towards them, Dirk averts his gaze as she shifts, and Jake’s head swivels towards him as he walks towards the- well, they are a pack, aren’t they? A pack of wolves with a little albino bat among them.

“Hey, Jake. Jade,” he nods towards them, a little startled when Jake bounds up to him and immediately proceeds to knock him to the ground. “You’re _heavy,_ get off of me,” Dirk complains, jerking his head away irritably when Jake snuffs at his hair. He tries to push Jake off of him to no avail, only being released when Nana growls at him from where she sits with Jade, their posture mimicking each other. It’s pretty cute how they all look similar- though Nana’s fur is much more grey than brown, they all have thick curly hair and sharp green eyes, one ear folded and the other stuck straight up. Dirk is quick to pull himself up off of the ground one Jake lets him go, brushing the dirt off of his clothes before he shifts and flits up into a tree to watch the sun go down.

* * *

The hunt is definitely a bit scarier than Dirk had anticipated. He knew that they’d literally be hunting things down to eat them and satiate the wolfish instincts that come clawing up every full moon, but he didn’t expect them to be so brutal about it. As he watches them tear into the third creature that night, he shifts back into his larger form and sighs, letting his legs hang down from the branch that he’s perched on top of. He’d packed snacks to keep himself from getting hungry as he watched them feed, but his mouth still waters as he watches them.

It’s a terrible, carnal instinct within himself that craves blood- one that he shoves down deep inside of himself, keeping it carefully contained until the times that he actually has to feed. Somehow, within the last few months or so in Jake’s company, he’s become a bit unravelled. It’s harder and harder to control himself as he watches the way that Jake performs for him, a constant show of how good he tries to be for Dirk. It’s clear that he needs his space sometimes, and Dirk is all too willing to give it to him.

Sometimes it feels better to be away from Jake than to be close to him, and other times he feels better than he ever had before- but only when Jake is around. Only when Jake’s attention is on him. Only when, only when, only when… he loses focus of what he’s supposed to be doing, too caught up in his own thoughts of how he feels (and how he’s trying not to feel, too scared to admit it to himself what might happen if he allows himself to feel what he thinks he’s starting to feel) to realize that Jake is circling underneath the tree that he’s sitting in. 

Dirk only realizes that he’s sitting on a branch that isn’t high up enough to be out of their reach when he feels Jake’s teeth in the leg of his pants, jerking back too late, and getting tugged down onto the ground. He tears his leg away, ripping the fabric of his pants and leaving part of it in Jake’s mouth, who shakes the torn piece of cloth like it’s a toy before spitting it out. His paws are nearly silent as he prowls forward, teeth bared and ears set back in a clear enough way to show that this time, he isn’t playing. 

Dirk quickly backpedals, thumping his back against the tree before standing up against it, careful not to break eye contact with Jake as he approaches. He carefully puts his hands out in front of himself, digging his heels in and glancing over to where Jade and Nana are before throwing himself to the side when Jake rushes him. The way that the tree bark crunches behind him when Jake hits it, snarling as Dirk tears down the path away from him. Climbing trees has never been something he was good at as a kid, but fear really can make people do things that they didn’t think they could. 

Unfortunately, adrenaline can only get you so far. Teeth lock around his ankle and yank him down, slamming him into the ground as he struggles for air- not that he technically needs it, being a vampire, but it’s still painful and disorienting to be winded. The growling fills his head as he kicks at Jake, who just snaps at his other foot and then at his throat, a paw settling heavily on his stomach as Jake snarls down at him.

Someone else is barking in the background, but Dirk can’t turn enough to see them. All he can see is Jake’s fur on top of him, his teeth bared and bloody, and his wild eyes fixed on Dirk’s own panicked ones. Jake is yanked away from Dirk by his scruff with a startled yelp, Nana moving to stand over Dirk as Jake is thrown to the ground. Of course, Jake should back down as soon as Nana snarls at him- she’s the leader of the pack, his grandmother, and the veritable ‘alpha’ of their little pack- but he gets to his feet and snarls back, approaching Dirk once more even when Nana bears her teeth at him. 

Jade flanks Jake and shoves him back into the dirt, growling at him as Dirk gets to his feet, wincing and leaning on the were-wolf in front of him for support. The bite mark that Jake had left behind on his ankle wasn’t as bad as he’d been expecting when he checks it, the wound pretty shallow, and he finds that the woods around him are suddenly very, very quiet as he rests his hand against the bloody bite.

He meets Jake’s eyes in the dark, and immediately understands what’s going on. “I’m okay,” he murmurs, lifting his bloodied hand from his ankle in an attempt to soothe Jake’s worried look. “It’s not that bad. Yeah, you bit me, and it hurts, but I’m okay. I can walk. And the night’s half over, too, so you’re back to your senses,” he reasons out, relieved when Jake confirms it by sitting down next to Jade with a soft whine, clearly feeling guilty about it. Dirk sighs, sitting down and tearing the pants leg that hadn’t been ripped and wrapping the fabric around his ankle, Nana moving aside as Jake slowly pads forward. She doesn’t go too far, still wary, but at least she’s letting him approach.

Dirk lifts his hand up for Jake to sniff at, pressing his muzzle into the bloody palm of his fiance as he chuffs at the other. “I know, it’s okay. I forgive you. You just wanted to catch whatever was in the tree, right? You didn’t think that it was me.” Jake just whimpers, pressing ever closer until his head is tucked up against Dirk’s shoulder and pressing him into the tree that he’s leaning against. “It’s okay. I’m okay, I promise.”

* * *

Jade leads him back to the castle as Jake and Nana hunt, leaving him alone at the entrance as she turns back to bound off into the forest to find them. Going up the stairs with an injured ankle is _really_ annoying, but vampires always heal pretty fast. By the time Jake comes back with the sun, looking completely exhausted as he opens the door to the room and wildly looks around until he finds Dirk, Dirk is already sitting on his bed and reading with his ankle wrapped in proper bandages. “Oh, thank god,” Jake whimpers, closing the door behind him and hurriedly walking up to the bed to engulf Dirk in a trembling hug. “Are you okay?? Please tell me you’re alright, I’m so sorry, I didn’t--”

“I’m okay, I forgive you,” Dirk interrupts, pulling Jake into the bed with him, using the loose rope (thankfully empty) to pull him closer. “I know you weren’t thinking. I’m okay. It’ll be healed over by tomorrow evening.” The shaky sigh of relief that Jake lets out ruffles Dirk’s hair, and when Jake pulls back to look at him, his face is pinched with guilt and exhaustion. His hands are shaking where they rest against Dirk’s arms, clearly not over it even a few hours after it had happened.

“Is there anything I could do to make it up to you?” He sniffles, bringing a hand up to wipe at his eyes as he sits down next to Dirk on his bed. “Anything at all. Just name it, and I’ll do it.” Dirk snorts, making Jake look up at him incredulously. 

“Just relax, okay?” He says, patting Jake’s shoulder in a poor attempt at calming him down. When Jake purses his lips at him, still unconvinced, Dirk gives him a teasing smile. “And maybe a kiss or some chocolates, I guess, if you feel that bad about it. I promise you didn’t hurt me.” Jake just sighs and looks away down at the floor, his tail curled morosely over Dirk’s thigh. He takes a minute to just breathe and calm down before leaning over to give Dirk a soft kiss, and Dirk shudders once he tastes blood on his lips. He presses his tongue into Jake’s mouth before he even thinks about it, tangling his hand in Jake’s hair to pull him closer as he chases the taste. Jake’s hand lays heavily against his thigh as he makes a surprised noise into Dirk’s mouth, groaning as he tilts his head to get a better ankle.

When Dirk’s teeth scrape Jake’s lip again he pulls away, not wanting a repeat of their first kiss to happen again. “Sorry,” he murmurs, “you taste like blood. I guess I’m… a little thirsty.” Jake just grins and gives him a laugh, ruffling his hair before he stands up and takes a breath to calm himself once again.

“I’ll let you feed off of me once I go and get something else for you to snack on from the kitchens, okay? I’ll be right back,” Jake says, smiling, and kisses Dirk’s forehead before he leaves. Dirk shivers at the thought of drinking from Jake, wondering just how _that_ will go down, watching him leave with a mixture of nervous anticipation and giddy admiration.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do plan on introducing NSFW into the next chapter- it’ll be the very first NSFW I’ve ever written outside of RPs, and I’ll put the appropriate content warnings in the notes and tags!


	13. Biting & Royal Dissention

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dirk forgets to tell Jake about the concerning letter he’d received before the full moon, distracted when Jake offers to let him feed from him, and Jake finds it a few hours later- completely misinterpreting it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first half of this chapter has nsfw. Specifically: Frottage, blood play (just Dirk drinking blood and enjoying it), biting, hypnosis (safe & consensual), and masturbation. It’s a pretty mild first time, and completely skippable if you scroll to the second line break. Enjoy!

* * *

When Jake returns from the kitchen with some snacks and a canister of water in his hands, Dirk is nervously perched on the side of his bed and reading one of the romance novels that he’d pulled from Jake’s cluttered shelves. He’s not paying any attention to the book, his eyes flicking up to watch Jake organize the snacks on top of his night stand. It’s clear that they’re both nervous about the feeding, Dirk even moreso, but neither of them makes a move until Jake turns towards the bed.

“So,” he starts, clearing his throat and tugging on his collar- which draws Dirk’s hungry eyes up to his neck once more. “Let’s… figure out how this is going to go, shall we? I think the best way to do it would be sitting together on my bed, but whatever is most comfortable for you works as well.” Dirk just nods as Jake moves to sit next to him, trying to figure out his next move.

“Right. Yeah, okay, got it. I’m going to sit in your lap now,” Dirk blurts out, trying to convince himself that they’re doing this. They’re making this happen. He swings a leg over Jake’s lap and sways when Jake puts his hand on his hip, shuddering from the pressure and heat of his touch. Once Dirk has himself situated, he puts his hands on Jake’s shoulders and tries not to shake too hard as Jake keeps his own hands on Dirk’s hips. “Okay. I’m going to bite you, and I’m going to try to make sure that you don’t get hurt. I can do that one of two ways, but… one of them is more for mating than casual feeding,” he rambles on even as Jake opens his mouth in- in what, surprise or to say something? Dirk just keeps barreling forward, his words rushing out as he tries to explain himself, “I told you earlier that vampires can secrete two things from their fangs- paralysis and a numbing around the bite. But there’s also another stereotype that we play into- hypnosis.”

Jake’s thumbs press into his sides and he shifts closer to the other, embarrassed, his fingers messing with the collar of Jake’s shirt. “Breathe, it’s alright. Did you want to try hypnotizing me or something? I’m not sure what it entails, so go ahead and explain it before we try it, okay? I’m listening,” Jake murmurs, hooking his fingers into the belt loops of Dirk’s pants and nuzzling against his neck. Dirk takes another shuddering breath and sighs, trying to relax before he continues.

“Okay, so, hypnosis. You know that trope where a vampire dips some poor unassuming damsel in his arms and looks deep in her eyes and that swirly shit happens? It’s not like that. A vampire’s eyes are usually brightly colored because we have some kind of magic that allows our partners to go under a sort of hypnotic state. I can’t force you to do anything you don’t want to do, it doesn’t work like that. It would just make you… feel better, and safer. More open to suggestions, I guess, and you wouldn’t have to worry about feeling embarrassed.”

Jake hums in interest from where he’s started to press gentle kisses against Dirk’s neck, making the man on his lap shiver before he pulls away and grins. His secondary ears are pointed straight up in interest, and his tail is laid comfortably up against Dirk’s lower back. “Well, I can’t say I’m not interested! If you’d like, you can try it out on me. I don’t mind at all.” Dirk lets out a breath that he didn’t realize he’d been holding, his grip on Jake’s shirt loosening as he gets permission to try. He just nods, trying to find the strength to speak around the nervous lump in his throat. Pulling away from the warmth that Jake radiates is always difficult, but he has to in order to take Jake’s face in his hands. 

“First off, I’m going to set down the terms for the hypnosis. If either of us break a rule or push past a boundary, you’ll snap right out of it. You’re allowed to set rules, too, so don’t worry about interrupting me,” he states, keeping eye contact with Jake as he draws up the magic deep out of himself. It’s hard to find it, after so many years of never even trying it, but it’s still there. “All I ask from you is that you don’t touch my chest. That’s all, anywhere else if free reign unless I say to stop. Do you understand, Jake?” The boy under him nods, entranced, and doesn't break eye contact. “I need verbal confirmation from you. Do you understand my boundaries, Jake?”

“Yeah,” he breathes, his fingers tightening on Dirk’s waist as he stares into the deep orange. Vaguely, he can feel the pull of magic against him, and simply lets it seep into his head, trusting that Dirk won’t hurt him. “My turn, then. You can do whatever you want, so long as you don’t put me to sleep or draw too much and make me pass out.” He doesn’t want to break eye contact now, but the subtle sight of Dirk swallowing makes him want to watch Dirk’s reactions to his words.

“Whatever I want,” Dirk repeats, serious, bringing his hands up on either side of Jake’s face. “And if I want to have sex?” He asks, blunt, and Jake’s face flushes deeply under his intense gaze. Jake simply shrugs, a nervous smile playing across his face as his own hands find their way under Dirk’s shirt.

“Then I’ll oblige. Though I’d rather save something so… intense for the honeymoon, don’t you think? I’m alright with anything else you’d like to do, but just maybe not, ah, penetrative sex. I don’t think I’m ready for that just yet,” he admits, honesty bubbling forth as Dirk’s spell works itself deeper into his head and spreads its roots. Dirk hums in affirmative, setting further on Jake’s lap as he takes another breath.

“Alright. If that’s all for the boundaries, I’m going to put you fully under the spell now. Anything to say before I scramble your brain like eggs?” He half-jokes, licking his lips and tightening his legs around Jake’s hips in anticipation. Jake shakes his head as much as he can without breaking eye contact, and Dirk steadies his head in his hands until he has a solid grip on Jake’s head, completely unblinking as he lets the magic flow a little more freely. 

“I’m all good. I’ll let you know if I need anything.” Jake hums, trying to relax and let the magic do what it wants. 

“Good,” Dirk practically purrs, his face flushing as the soft rumble in his chest manifests- but he ignores it for now, focusing his energy on Jake. “I’m going to have you count with me. We’ll start at fifteen and count down to one. All you have to do is listen to me, relax, and obey. Do you understand, Jake?”

“Yeah,” he hums, idly tracing his fingers over Dirk’s sides as he listens.

“Good boy,” Dirk grins, watching Jake’s face flush at the praise- and in his peripherals he watches Jake’s secondary ears twitch in embarrassment. “Listen to everything that I have to say. Fifteen.”

Fourteen.”

“Just follow along and let the magic take over. Thirteen.”

“Twelve.”

“There you go, just let me take it from here. Eleven.”

“Ten.”

“Relaxed and content, all for me. Nine.”

“Eight.”

“Calm and gentle, soft and susceptible. Seven.”

“Six.”

“You’re doing so good, Jake. Five.”

“Four.”

“Almost there, pretty boy. Three.”

“Two.”

“Completely mine. One.”

At that, Dirk finally lets himself blink, letting the spell work its way from him and into Jake, the magic fizzling out from behind his eyelids. Jake is still staring, but his eyes are half-lidded and his gaze is relaxed. His hands are still where they rest, hot and heavy against Dirk’s skin under his shirt, and Dirk grins to himself in accomplishment. “Hey there, gorgeous. How are you feeling?” Jake tries to say something, his words slurring as he answers. “Perfect. Just relax for me, I’m not going to hurt you,” Dirk murmurs as he leans in, excitement thrumming through his veins as his sharp teeth start to itch. They’ve already grown a bit past his lips, and he presses a series of rough, wet kisses to the side of Jake’s neck as he maps out his pulse point. 

Jake shivers under his mouth but doesn’t say a word, his fingers twitching against Dirk’s skin the only indication that his mind is still somewhat in a lucid state. “Shhh,” Dirk croons, a feral part of himself clawing to the surface as he rests his hands against Jake’s shoulders and presses his tongue to his pulse. He lets his teeth graze over the soft skin there as Jake whimpers under him, a desperate sound that pushes Dirk further against him. Sinking his teeth into a person is always the hardest, and he flinches as Jake cries out, his sounds unrestrained as Dirk bites down on the part just above his shoulder. He doesn’t let to, simply closing his mouth around the bite and letting Jake adjust as he listens to his unsteady breathing.

When Dirk begins to drink, Jake actually  _ moans,  _ his hands on Dirk’s sides pulling the other man higher up into his lap until Dirk can feel Jake half-hard against his leg. It’s distracting, sure, but Jake’s blood is sweet and hot as he swallows, his own hands looping under Jake’s arms to curl around his back under his shirt, hardly careful of his own nails in his excitement. When Jake grinds up against him, however, Dirk gaps, his mouth coming loose of Jake’s neck with a wet pop. He shudders when Jake does it again, seemingly spurred on by Dirk’s reactions as he grinds back down on him. 

“ _ Ffffuck, _ ” Jake gasps out through the gossamer haze laid over his mind, a gentle and soft spell that he doesn’t fight as he moves a hand away from Dirk to rest it on the bed behind himself to steady the two of them. The moment Dirk bit him felt like a direct line of red hot nerves directly to his dick, twitching against Dirk’s thigh as he tries to grind up against the other boy on top of him. His free hand finds its way up into Dirk’s hair as his head dips back towards Jake’s shoulder, his tongue pressed up against the bite to lap up the blood welling from the puncture.

Jake’s hand in Dirk’s hair encourages him to bite down once more, moving his hips over Jake’s to line them both up properly as they grind against each other. It’s better than he could have hoped, groaning against Jake’s skin as he drinks. When the hand in his hair tightens, however, he pulls off and just licks at the wound until the blood stops flowing, instead turning his focus towards grinding against Jake. It’s completely exhilarating to feel how hard Jake’s cock is as it presses against him, shocks of dull pleasure sparking through him as he presses kisses into Jake’s skin and murmurs to him. “Don’t stop grinding against me until you cum. I’ll get myself off afterwards, but right now I want you to move us to a better position.”

Jake obediently nods into Dirk’s hair, moving his hands to Dirk’s sides once more as he swiftly turns and pushes Dirk into the mattress, his head hitting the pillow as Jake chuffs at him, nuzzling his face into Dirk’s neck as he grinds harder into Dirk. He uses the mattress under Dirk as leverage, one hand pinning Dirk’s hips down as his legs push up under Dirk’s- who gasps as Jake bites him in return, though not hard enough to break the skin, thank fucking god. “Harder,” Dirk tries to command, his order coming out as more of a plea. He doesn’t know exactly what he’s asking for, but Jake gives it to him anyways.

His hips snap forward as if he’s actually fucking Dirk into the matress, and he licks and sucks and bites a collar of hickeys and kisses around Dirk’s neck. Dirk’s hands come up to the back of Jake’s neck as he rocks them against the bed, moaning and panting until he shudders, jerking hard against Dirk until he stops, shivering, and rests his head against the pillow behind Dirk. Biting his lip, Dirk reaches down until he reaches the hem of his own pants, his fingers dipping past his waistband to finish himself off. It doesn’t take long, just putting hard pressure against his clit while Jake presses hot kisses to his neck, and he comes with a moan that he tries to trap underneath his free hand.

The magic over Jake’s mind melts and dissipates like frost, and he sighs contentedly before he gets up and strips his pants off. “You alright there, Strider?” Jake asks, turning his head back to Dirk as he changes out of his sticky undergarments. Dirk gives him a contented hum and a tired thumbs up from his bed, his hair stuck to his forehead with sweat. When Jake isn’t looking, Dirk licks his fingers clean, his ears hot with arousal and a little bit of shame. 

“I’m all good. How are you standing up this fast, though? I’m still all fuzzy around the edges.” Jake turns to give him a cheeky grin, his eyes raking down across Dirk’s throat with a smug look creeping onto his face. “Well, sweetheart, I certainly have a lot more stamina than you. I daresay given two minutes I could go again, if you’d like. Though maybe without the hypnosis this time- nice as it was, it was very difficult to think or string my words together properly, and I’d very much like to see your face next time you moan like that.” With that said and a wink thrown across the room, he makes Dirk’s face flush hot, and he turns his face back into the pillow to mumble as Jake laughs.

* * *

They don’t go again, mutually agreeing that they should probably go and eat a proper meal as opposed to snacking on food Jake stored around his room- and Jake himself, he quips, earning a flustered glare from Dirk in the process. “I’ll bring  _ you  _ something this time. I should also go and ask for something to cover all this up with, you absolute heathen. And I thought I’d just need a bandage for  _ you,”  _ he sighs, playful as Jake snickers at him from his bed, a book in his hand and the canister of water in his other. He blows Dirk a kiss as the other boy heads to the door, his pointed ears reddened in embarrassment.

“Thanks, babe,” he laughs, eyeing up all of the marks he’d left on Dirk’s neck, “you’ll find some medical supplies in the kitchen under the sink. And if you ask one of Jade’s handmaidens I’m sure that they have makeup to help you cover all that up- or not, I certainly don’t mind looking at it all.” Dirk just growls at him from the door before he leaves, and Jake bares his teeth at him in return, his laugh hissing through his fangs. 

When Dirk closes the door behind himself, Jake stands up and stretches, groaning as he raises his arms above his head. He snaps his book shut and shelves it haphazardly once more, glancing over to his desk. The night of the full moon, Dirk had wanted to talk to him about something important that he’d heard, probably from the open letter on his desk that Jake picks up and opens. Reading through it, however, very quickly kills the good mood that he’s in.

“‘The king intends to use you as an inside man to take Prospit from the inside’…?” Jake huffs, his tail flicking out from behind him in irritation. “That’s just fucking scuffed, I won’t let him. Not that he’d betray the marriage contract we’re under, would he…?” Jake frowns deeper as he continues to read, finding that the letter is from Dirk’s twin, Hal. When the door opens again, Jake turns with the letter in his hand, his expression pinched and dour. Dirk freezes in the doorway with one of Jade’s scarves around his neck, a roll of gauze in one hand, and his arms full of various snack foods that he’d pilfered from the kitchen.

“What the hell is this?” Jake snarls, his tone coming out harsher than he’d intended. As soon as Dirk flinches away, though, he deflates, a soft whine pulling itself from his throat. “Sorry. It’s just… scary news, is all. I don’t mean to frighten you as well, though I assume that this is the urgent news you wanted to tell me about.”

“Yeah,” Dirk says, his tone stilted, setting everything in his arms down on the bed as he watches Jake stand at the desk. “Hal wanted to warn me about Derek’s plans. He wants war, and giving me away is just a good excuse to keep ‘training’ Hal and Dave harsher while I’m away. I’m pretty sure he’s going to try to pit the kingdoms against each other before the wedding can even happen, and I’ve asked Rose and Hal to keep tabs on the war room while I’m gone since that’s usually my job.”

Jake sits down heavily in the chair by his desk, letting the letter fall from his hand back onto the wood. “So you don’t plan on betraying me- Prospit, the contract, et cetera,” Jake asks, his words hesitant and afraid. Dirk’s gaze softens just a bit, fidgeting with his hands in his lap as he sits down on the bed and faces Jake properly. 

“Of course not, man, I care about you. I’ve spent seven months with you so far, and I don’t plan on stopping any time soon. And listen, I’m not going to let him manipulate me, either. I’ve got charms and shit in place, and I’ve got my siblings to back me up.” Dirk gives Jake a look and glances out towards the door, trying to hint at him. “It would be good if we got your siblings in on this too, just in case he plans on trying anything stupid. My guess is that he’ll try to get one of us or both of us kidnapped and blame it on Prospit.”

Jake nods, chewing at his lip as he thinks it all over and glances towards the door as well, contemplative. “I wouldn’t tell Jane or John. Not yet, at least, and it’s a good thing that they’re out at sea right now anyways. Jane would overreact and John never takes anything seriously. I’m… I know we can trust Jade. She’s incredible and strong willed and just great all around, but… I worry, you know, about her getting hurt because of me.”

“It’s not just you, man,” Dirk reminds him, standing up to reach out and put a hand on Jake’s shoulder. “This is about all of us. Your kingdom and mine, this shits a huge fucking deal. It’s better to have as many people we trust know this as we can- though I wouldn’t tell your grandma. Who knows how that would go down.”

“Badly,” Jake mumbles, wringing his hands and keeping his gaze glued to the floor. His tail droops sadly behind him, worry wrought into every inch of his body and Dirk frowns at that. “Hey. Look at me,” he asks, putting his hands on Jake’s face as he turns to look up at him. “It’s going to be okay. We have people that we love and trust here to help us. No one is going to die. No war is even going to be started. And besides, me and my siblings have been planning an assassination for Derek since we knew about all the bad shit that he’d done, so it’s okay. I just need you in on it, too,” he sighs, leaning in to put his forehead against Jake’s as the other goes still with surprise. “Do you trust me?” He asks, his voice soft as he runs his thumbs over Jake’s cheeks.

“Of course,” Jake murmurs, tilting his head up to catch Dirk’s lips with his own. “Tell me how I can help, and then we can go and talk to Jade. What’s your plan?” Dirk smiles at that, relief rushing through him as he pulls back to smile at Jake.

“We’ve got a lot of work cut out for us, so listen up. This shit’s been in motion since I was announced heir to the throne at six, so settle in. This is gonna get long.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To the person who comments on every chapter and even commented today saying how excited they were for this one- just know that I love you unequivocally


	14. Regicide & Garden walks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jake, Dirk, and Rose discuss the king of Derse and what their plans are for taking him out. Then, Dirk takes some time for himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the late update, school has been kicking up and finals are pretty soon XP. I'll try to update again this week. Unfortunately this update is pretty dialogue heavy, but I do plan on having them go on another date in the next update T~T

* * *

Jake sits down on his bed and folds his hands, patiently waiting for Dirk to tell his story. It’s no secret that the royal family of Derse isn’t exactly a happy, stable family, but hearing it from the eldest son and heir to the throne only makes it more apparent. He rests his cheek in his hand as he watches Dirk get situated at his desk, fidgeting with the cuffs of his sleeves and sighing, tense.

“Since I was six years old, I’ve been told that I’ll be the crown heir of Derse so long as I don’t get assassinated, kidnapped, or whatever else that might make me forfeit the crown to Hal. Dave and Hal got the short end of the stick when we were all being raised- and by that I mean that they were trained to protect me as I was being trained to protect myself. Hal… they were really bitter about the fact that despite us being twins, I was the one to be king.”

He pauses for a second to take a breath, his pointed ears twitching downwards as he frowns. Jake waits, patient, and Dirk gives him a wavering smile. “Anyways. We’re all cool now. But Rose knew what was up, and refused to be a, quote, ‘part of this cycle of familial abuse,’ and proposed that we all make a plan to assassinate the king.” As he talks, his voice gets quieter when he mentions the assassination plan. Jake gets up and double-checks that the door is locked, gesturing for him to continue. 

“So when I was 13, so were Hal and Roxy- who’s technically our cousin, along with Rose. She’s a few days younger than us. Rose and Dave are even younger, with Rose being the youngest and the baby of the family. She and I get along pretty well, and I’m glad to have her on my side. Who knows what she’d do if we were enemies, she’s cunning and crafty and one of my best friends.”

“Back to the matter at hand, though. Do you have a plan for the assassination and your eventual take-over of Derse?” Jake prompts, glancing to the open letter on the desk. An assassination is a really big deal, especially one of this scale. If they’ve been planning this for years, then at the very least, Jake can help them further their plans.

“Right, but that’s the thing. If I’m married to a Prospitian, I’m not exactly going to be very accepted if I try to take the throne after Derek dies. No offence to you, but Prospitians are generalized as pretty damn wimpy and not fit for leadership.” Jake shrugs and makes an ‘ehh’ motion with his hand before Dirk continues, barely containing a smile. “So, odds are, when the king dies it’ll be Hal taking over. Except nobody wants Hal to take over, they’re an asshole and would definitely be bad for Derse. We know this. They know this. So our plan is to have Rose become the Queen instead of either of us.”

“Don’t you want to be king?” Jake asks, tilting his head in his hand as he watches Dirk talk. He still hasn’t said anything about the specific plans of the assassination, so he’s already starting to plan out how a letter to Rose would go over. “That seems like the kind of thing you might enjoy, having control over so much and solving people’s problems without having to get directly involved.” Dirk just shrugs and pulls a face that makes Jake snicker, the both of them leaning back in their respective seats.

“Not really, actually. I’ve never really been one for popularity, and I’d really rather not be king if I can avoid it. Hal was really upset that I didn’t want to be king, and, uh, I…. never mind, actually, this probably isn’t the best thing to say right now.” He rubs the back of his neck sheepishly and looks around Jake’s room, finding his bag and pulling out a bowl and a bottle full of a thick black liquid. “It’s better if Rose explains the plans so I don’t keep going off on a thousand different tangents.”

“Is that a scrying bowl? Aren’t those super expensive?” Jake moves off of the bed to sit cross-legged on the floor as Dirk sets up the bowl, carefully pouring from the bottle until it’s half full between them. They both go quiet as Dirk sets everything up between and around them, eventually searching the room for something to set the bowl alight. “I’ll let you do the talking,” Jake murmurs as the surface of the bowl ripples beneath the flames to reveal someone peering up back at them. 

_ “And what prompted you to call me right now?” _ Says Rose from the bowl, her voice a bit distorted as it comes through. Her hands are occupied out of frame as she works on something, not looking back at them as they peer down at her. _ “As I’m sure you know, Thursdays are my work days, and I don’t much care for being disturbed.” _

“And yet you picked up anyways,” Dirk grins, lacing his fingers together under his chin and leaning forward to see her better. “Jake wants to know about our plans. The big ones.” That seems to get her interest, her eyes flicking over to the two of them before going back to her work. She sighs, leaning back in her chair and cracking her knuckles. 

_ “Fine. Since I’m in a room where I can safely discuss these plans, I’ll let him in on it and review it for you. Our plan is to ambush him on his birthday, after he drinks his fill and gets drunk. He gets drunk off of his god damned ass every year on his birthday, and tries to break down Dave’s door for more ‘training.’ While he’s incapacitated, we plan to drag him down to the basement and, well. If you’d like to get in on this, English, you’re welcome to.” _

Jake gives a thumbs up and a sharp grin, prompting Rose to give him a thumbs up back in return. “I’d love to help you all get the upper hand on your old man, and I’m sure that Jade would be happy to help as well!” Rose just raises an eyebrow before glancing over to Dirk, the two of them sharing a look before looking back at Jake, who’s tail thumps quietly against the hardwood floor behind him. “Let’s discuss this a little more, though, shall we?”

* * *

Eventually, Jake calls for food to be sent up to his room so that they don’t have to leave as they talk and the sun sets. The two of them lay together on the floor and discuss how different their childhoods were, eventually falling into a comfortable silence as the room darkens with the sunset through the trees. Dirk moves his hand over to Jake’s to hold it, squeezing lightly and trying to desperately fend off the strong bout of homesickness that washes over him. “Can we get out of here for the weekend?” He murmurs, running his thumb over the back of Jake’s hand. “Maybe somewhere a little colder, like the Alternian and Prospitian border.”

“Maybe our summer home in the mountains?” Jake hums contemplatively, stretching out his legs as they talk. “It is a bit colder the further south you go, but it would be about three days’ travel and a weeks’ worth of stay. I’d have to ask permission from Nana, but I don’t mind taking you up there. Me and Jade used to stay there when it got too hot here, since our fur when we shift gets way too hot for either of us to stand the temperature.” Dirk gives a thumbs up in return, forgetting that Jake can’t see it while they’re laying down, and turns his head to watch the light filter out of the room through the window. 

“Sure, sounds good to me. Why can’t you just get haircuts, though? You’ve practically got a mullet, and I don’t even know how much hair your sister has.” Jake lets out a startled laugh at that, moving his free hand up to mess with his hair. It is getting long, and he should cut it, but he’s never been one for getting haircuts this early into summer, so he just shrugs.

“Eh. I’ll get around to it. If it really gets unbearable, then maybe. But I don’t like having a blade so close to my head, the sound and feel of it sets off sensory issues for me.”

“Oh,” Dirk says, and they both settle back into silence once more. Once the light becomes hard to see in, Jake sits up and lights the oil lamp on his desk before a knock at his door makes him turn. Dirk gets to the door before he does, opening it to find Jade standing at the doorway, her arms wrapped around a large planter- the large leaves of some yellowing plant flopping over the clay rim. 

“Jacob Bartholomew English,” she growls, stepping into the room and brushing past Dirk as she enters, “I know that you’ve been away for months, but you can’t spare one hour to come down to the greenhouse and water your plants? Look at this poor ficus!!” Jake winces as he turns back towards her, his expression embarrassed and sheepish as she sets the pot down in the center of the room. “I swear, if I have to drag you out of your room tomorrow morning just to keep you on your feet in the garden I will. And you!” She rounds on Dirk, who puts his hands up in defence. “I’m not mad at you, but you could help out, too. All of his plants are wilting, and it’s a hassle taking care of the whole damn greenhouse myself. Can you help out?”

“Yeah. I mean, I might as well help you all out while I’m here,” he stumbles over his words, a bit intimidated before she beams down at him. She reaches over to pat his head before turning back to Jake, staring him down before he sighs and opens his arms to her.

“I promise I’ll come by and help out tomorrow,” he begrudgingly mutters out as he steps in to hug him, the two of them wagging their tails in a near perfect rhythm together. “I just wanted a day in with my future husband, you know, we have to discuss the plans for the wedding and how Derse is going to deal with all of this. And, speaking of, I have something to propose to you tomorrow, if you’re willing to help out,” he grins, giving Dirk a thumbs up from behind her back.

“I’m all ears, Jakey,” she smiles back, pulling away to wiggle her secondary pair of ears at him, making him laugh. “If it’s about the future of Derse, I’ll try to help however I can. Besides, what kind of sister would I be if I didn’t help out my brother with his marriage, huh?” She teases, jabbing her elbow into his ribs with a sharp smile. He shoves back, and Dirk excuses himself from the room before he can get involved in their playful brawl.

* * *

When he leaves the room to wander around the castle grounds, Dirk realizes that he hasn’t exactly had a moment to himself for quite a while. The garden at the back of the school grounds is a much nicer garden than the one on Dersite grounds. The warmer weather is probably better for the plants, he assumes, and from where he stands at the entrance of the garden, he can see the greenhouse from there. The greenhouse that houses the plants that Jake tends to, apparently… and so he intends to check it out, making his way through the tall bushes on either side of the stone pathway. 

There was a large map tacked up inside of a glass case that displayed the layout of the garden at the entrance, which he read over several times before heading in. The garden is spread in several looping circles over acres of cultivated land, with each layer holding flowers, bushes, vegetables, fruits, and anything that could be grown in close quarters to another plant. In the far right back corner of the garden, there even seemed to be a section where plants that grew in hot sandt climates could be grown- and in the far back left corner, cold and wet climates with a patch of near-frozen terrain. In the very center of the garden paths, each of them looping around and overlapping each other, there lays a large lake surrounded by trees. 

But Dirk doesn’t intend to go there without someone else to accompany him, so he just heads for the large glass dome to his immediate left- the greenhouse. Since the sun had set almost 20 minutes prior to his walk, the pathway is lit by low-hanging fairy lights strung through thin wire fences along each of the twining stone pathways. Each fork in the paths is lit by a lantern that hangs low between the split paths, low enough to be re-lit by hand if need be. The greenhouse seems to be lit from the inside, most likely through electrically heated lights that would keep the plants warm as well as providing lights to anyone tending to the plants. 

As he steps into the room, he’s careful to close the glass door firmly behind him. The air inside of the dome is thick and muggy, and the smell of jungle plants is heavy all around him. It seems to be more of a scientific study than a proper greenhouse- a desk in the center of the room has papers scattered across its mahogany surface and a wire basket full of crumpled papers and crushed aluminum soda cans sits tucked neatly underneath. A long, curved table behind the desk holds several thousand dollars’ worth of scientific equipment, and Dirk is careful not to touch any of it.

It takes him about a half hour to walk the full circumference of the room and make his way back to the entrance. There is no back exit, which was surprising, but there were several plaques telling him what each plant’s name was, it’s scientific name, and the ph content of the soil. Jake doesn’t strike him as the type to care much about all the sciency stuff like this, so Dirk assumes that it’s Jade’s job to study and Jake’s job to make sure that the plants are all healthy and well taken care of.

Would Jake take as good care of Dirk as he does the plants in the greenhouse? Would he devote as much care, affection, and attention to him? Dirk’s mind wanders as his feet carry him through the garden and down the winding paths, eventually forgetting which path he was supposed to take back to the castle. He finds himself lost facing a four way split path, debating whether or not to just try and backtrack. Taking the second left trail, which seems to lead into a more solid stone pathway, he finds himself in a stature garden, and decides that if he’s going to be lost, this isn’t too bad of a place to stay for now. 

He sits himself down in a stone gazebo that overlooks all of the strange dog-headed statues and rests his head in his hands, eventually falling asleep without even realizing it.


	15. Sunburnt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dirk makes his way back to the castle as Jade plans to help the Strilondes assassinate the king of Derse. Dirk and Jake have their very first, genuine fight, and then discuss what Jake’s first heat could lead to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It has been A While since I last updated and I apologize for that- finals and my birthday and christmas all had me swamped so I had no time to type anything out. Here’s a pretty large (and sappy) chapter to make up for the mini-hiatus. ALSO!!! Thank you so much to grotesqueanarchist on instagram & tumblr for this lovely piece of fanart <33 https://www.instagram.com/p/CJOeWFYAUKs/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

* * *

A patch of sunlight filtering across Dirk’s face makes him shift in his sleep, the warmth of the sun becoming uncomfortably hot as he stirs. Raising a hand to shield the side of his face from getting too burnt, he glares up at the cracked ceiling of the gazebo that’s letting light in through the gaps between his fingers. He pushes himself up to sit with a groan, stretching his shoulders and wincing at the tight pressure around his ribs. It’s never good sleeping in a binder, especially if he has no idea how many hours have passed, so he carefully takes it off under his shirt and folds it up until he can shove it into his pants pocket.

Jake is most definitely worried by now since Dirk didn’t tell him where he’d be off to when he left him and Jade to spar in their room, so he should be quick to get back to the palace if he wants to make sure that the garden won’t be crawling with guards within the hour searching for him. The sun, however, makes that a very vexing task- a large patch of skin from just under his left eye to his neck is very sunburnt from napping in the sun, and it hurts to touch, so he just frowns and keeps his hands away from his face for the time being. It’s a good thing that he’d woken up before the sun beam had shifted over his eyes, or he’d have been unable to see for several minutes. There’s a reason why he tended to wear those pointed sunglasses- he’d just neglected to bring them out to the garden because it was night time when he’d come out in the first place. 

Pulling his binder out in second thought, he drapes the thin black material over his hair and walks out into the statue garden, hoping that it might help to shield his face and shoulders from the sun- at least a little bit while he makes his way back. It seems to be late morning, so he should have enough time to get back into the palace before Jake starts to worry too much. Dirk mutters to himself as he walks, trying to think of a good excuse when he gets back in. “I know I didn’t tell you that I’d left and I’m sorry I didn’t think to bring you with me. I don’t usually fall asleep like that for so long, and I swear I’ll tell you where I’m going next time. It’s not what it looks like, I promise, I wasn’t trying to run away. I swear, I didn’t mean to- fuckin, shit. Don’t worry about it, it’s fine.”

On the other end of the garden, near the entrance, is Jake- who’s worriedly trying to track down Dirk in his shifted form. It’s a lot brighter out than it would be at Derse, since Prospit is an island kingdom, and he’s very worried that Dirk might get burnt to a crisp out in the sun on his own. He didn’t come back to the bedroom at night- which is fine, he’s entitled to his own space, and Jake tried not to feel too hurt about the sudden change- but what was even more worrisome was that he didn’t see the vampire at all during breakfast. Even though Dirk doesn’t have to eat as much as anyone else due to his vampyrism, it’s still important to make sure that he eats. 

Tracking a faded scent is always frustrating, especially in the garden full of lush smells and textures. But Dirk’s scent is still there, faint in the path and in the patches of weeds and grass growing between the stone steps. Staying on track is quite difficult, what with each deviation from the path smelling more and more enticing (the garden in spring is always delightful to walk around while shifted), but the worry he holds for Dirk’s safety is much stronger than the usual impulses that would overtake him at the moment. By the way the scent has faded, he last walked here more than eight hours ago- which is even more concerning than his sudden disappearance. Why would Dirk have just suddenly disappeared without saying anything? It’s as irritating and frustrating as it is incredibly worrisome.

For a second as he wanders up to a fork in the path, the scent overlaps and grows stronger in one direction and filters away in the other, showing clear signs that Dirk had been there recently and backtracked over his own scent path. Jake’s ears prick up in hope as he picks up his pace, nearly stumbling over his own paws as he chases Dirk down in the garden. As soon as Jake sees him, the poor boy’s fingers red and raw from the sun, he shifts so fast that he  _ does  _ trip- right into Dirk, who gives out a startled yelp as he’s knocked to the ground for a second time by the bigger boy. As he struggles to catch his breath, winded, Jake pulls them both to their feet and hurriedly tosses his own jacket over Dirk’s head, worry wrought into every inch of Jake’s face.

“Jake, hey. I’m sorry I--”

“You can explain yourself after we get you inside and get your hands and face all patched up, okay? I’m not mad at you, sweetheart, please don’t look so downtrodden,” Jake sighs, quick to interrupt what he knows is going to be an unnecessary apology, glancing around the garden with his ears pinned back into his hair before he opts to just pick Dirk up instead- booking it between the hedges towards the entrance as fast as his bare feet can carry him. Dirk doesn’t protest, guilt and flustered shame heating his face as much as the sun had, just settling closer to Jake in his arms and staying quiet. Jake nudges the garden doors open with his foot and carries Dirk up the stairs to his bedroom, neither of them saying a word.

Setting Dirk down to open the door to his bedroom only to find his sister cheerily chatting away with the scrying bowl on the floor prompts Jake to turn around and walk into a different room, one hand on Dirk’s back as they walk through the hall. Dirk doesn’t say a word, worried that Jake might be upset with him for not telling him where he went, and Jake doesn’t say anything because he’s too busy thinking of how to treat such a bad sunburn as he opens the door to a bathroom. As he chews on his cheek, his brow knit in worry, he gently nudges Dirk towards the only bed in the center of the room and walks towards a large glass medicine cabinet to begin his search for supplies.

“Sit down, I’m going to help you treat those nasty burns. While I look, why don’t you tell me why you were out there all alone?” Dirk wrings his wrists and wilts, looking anywhere but where Jake crouches at the cabinet, setting vials and bandages on the clean tile floor next to him. He opens his mouth, closes it, clears his throat, and speaks, his eyes wandering towards the large bathtub built into the wall behind him.

“You and Jade were play-fighting last night and I wanted some time to myself since I haven’t been able to do that for a while, so I went out to the garden for a walk. I swear to fucking god, I didn’t mean to fall asleep out there, I was going to come right back. I fell asleep in a cracked up gazebo in the statue garden and woke up to half my face burning like hell, and--” Jake stands up abruptly, turning on his heel to level Dirk with a stern glare that shuts him up mid-sentence. Carrying everything in his arms and setting each item carefully on the bed next to the shorter boy, he sighs and gently lifts Dirk’s chin in his hand.

“Be quiet for a moment, please. You’re forgiven, don’t worry, just please refrain from talking for now since I’m going to patch your face up,” he murmurs, tilting Dirk’s chin this way and that to find the best angle to start with. “I’d assumed you wanted some alone time, but remember to warn me that you’re going to disappear next time. M’kay?” Dirk hums an affirmative, his face burning for more than one reason now- and he knows that he’s fully capable of patching himself up, but Jake doesn’t provide much room for argument. With gentle hands, Jake carefully applies a cooling salve to the burn, his higher ears pressed tight to his skull and visibly upset when Dirk hisses in pain. Soft gauze is pressed over the burn and sealed as gently as possible against his cheek, Jake’s fingers swift and firm as he applies medical tape to make the wrapping stay in place.

“Are you mad at me?” Dirk mumbles once Jake’s attention turns to Dirk’s sunburnt fingers. He’d held his binder above his head to block the sun from his face and shoulders, but that had left his fingers and the backs of his hands vulnerable to the sun’s harsh rays. Jake doesn’t respond for a moment, smoothing cold ointment over Dirk’s dry, cracked skin in a quiet rhythm before he replies, his voice low and quiet.

“I’m not mad at you. I’m worried that you might be in pain for the next few days, and a little put out over the fact that you didn’t come to bed last night, but I don’t want any harm to come to you while you’re in my care- and that means especially now, since you went and got yourself all burnt up in my garden. It’s my job to take care of you as your future husband, so you’ll just have to get used to it,” Jake’s light, somewhat teasing tone doesn’t match his somber expression as he wraps Dirk’s fingers and knuckles in bandages, his mouth pressed into a thin, distressed line.

“Hey, it’s my fault for--”

“Shush,” Jake scowls down at Dirk’s hands, his own slightly trembling, “don’t you dare blame yourself for this. You wanted time to yourself and got yourself caught in a mess, whatever. What we aren’t going to do is drag you around in a useless little loop of self-deprecation. It is not your fault that the sun hurts you. It is not your fault that you got hurt. It was an accident, and you are not to blame for this.” Dirk just nods, at a loss for words and unable to think of a proper retort to that. Jake’s shoulders visibly relax just a bit when Dirk doesn’t argue, lifting one of Dirk’s hands to his lips to kiss it.

Meanwhile, while Jake fusses over Dirk, Jade communes with Rose through Dirk’s scrying bowl that he’d left unsupervised in the bedroom. Their premeditated regicide has a lot more steps than they’d expected, and Jade planned to see just how she could help from her position in Prospit. She talked to Rose about the fact that since neither Jake nor Dirk can take the thrones after they get engaged, Jade and Hal (as the second in line to the throne) would be set to take the thrones if they faced no opposition. Rose taps her quill against her chin as she listens, splattering ink onto her chin, and Jade ties a bright pink thread around her ankle so that she doesn’t forget what she has to do in preparation.

“There’s no way that Jake will actually be able to inflict any actual harm on the king once he sees what he’s up against for real. He might’ve lived in Derse for a bit, but he’s always been more of a passive player than an active one. He’s a bit cowardly, I suppose,” Jade sighs, glancing towards the door that her dear brother had left open when he carried Dirk up to their room. “It’s not his fault, really, but he’s just not much of a fighter if he can avoid conflict with people at all costs. We’re better with long-range weapons, too, so I’d suggest putting Jake up on a balcony as a lookout as opposed to being down in the rooms with the rest of you.” Rose nods thoughtfully and scribbles something down in her huge notebook, the papers inside of the leather bindings stacked high enough for Jade to see them even from the awkward angle the bowl is placed in on Rose’s desk. 

“I’d assumed as much from what little interactions I’ve had with him. He’s much more comfortable when he can play into someone’s fantasy expectations of him, and would rather eat his own boots than get into an awkward situation that he can’t ‘charm’ his way out of. When the two of you come to Derse for the wedding, I’ll have Dirk keep him occupied in their room while the rest of us put the plan into motion. If Jake decides to stay in the room or falls asleep before Dirk is needed, then Dirk can join us in our attack. If he does not do either of those, then he can act as a lookout and stay away from the conflict.” Jade shoots her a thumbs up and glances back over her shoulder again, getting up to close the door and lock it behind her. Rose’s voice still rings out from the bowl, an amused lilt to her tone giving away how much she is enjoying their talk. “Let’s discuss what your role in this may be, Jade, if you’re ready to discuss. I hope that you have enough of your little colorful strings to remember all of this.”

* * *

Every time Dirk catches Jake glancing over at the burns on his hands, the embarrassment and guilt over what had happened doubles. He can’t even put his fingerless leather gloves on over the bandages because the pressure makes his hands hurt even worse, which is irritating in and of itself. He can’t call it the  _ worst _ part, really, but the part that makes him feel the most shameful is Jake’s insistence over doting on him. Maybe it’s out of some kind of misplaced obligation or he’s genuinely concerned, but it’s starting to feel like the dogboy is smothering the other. So of course, instead of talking it out like a normal couple would- and are they really even a couple? Nothing was discussed, but they  _ did  _ kiss, like, twice- Dirk just starts trying to distance himself from Jake.

Jake isn’t stupid, and he can tell that Dirk is pulling away, but he stubbornly refuses to take a step back when Dirk does, instead pushing even harder. A week after the incident, things are more tense than they’d ever been between the two of them, and they’re both getting very tired of it. Thay day after a silent lunch, Jake tries to pull Dirk into the room again to check on his wounds- and Dirk resists. “I can do it myself, thanks,” he mutters, not meaning for it to come out so defensive. Jake immediately bristles at his tone, but takes a breath and sighs. Dirk can see his secondary ears flick in irritation, though, and sets a goal to get Jake to say how he  _ really  _ feels about having to take care of Dirk.

“Listen, Strider,” Jake tries, stepping forward and setting his hands gently on Dirk’s shoulders- but Dirk shoves him away. Which doesn’t do much, only forcing Jake to take a step back to steady himself, but it sure gets a reaction out of Jake. His mouth is open in surprise, but snaps shut so hard that Dirk can hear his teeth clack together and sees his jaw tense in anger.  _ Which, good, he should be angry,  _ Dirk thinks to himself and scowls back, taking a step backwards and crossing his arms. “Hey, now. What was that for,” Jake asks, though it’s more of a tense demand for an answer as he tries to reign in his temper.

“Leave me alone for once, I can do it myself. I’m the one who’s got the injury, so I should be the one taking care of myself,” Dirk hisses at him, making the fur on Jake’s tail puff up, “I don’t need you all over me every goddamn second of every day. Give me some fucking space, dude.” Jake takes a second to look over Dirk’s face, his eyes unable to meet Dirk’s through his shades, and sighs, backing off.

“Fine,” he begrudgingly mutters, raising his hands up in defeat, “do it yourself. There’s a mirror in the closet to the left of the tub, if you need it.” Clearly irritated but not following through with the argument, Jake stalks off down the stairs to the foyer, leaving Dirk standing alone outside of the bathroom. Jake isn’t back when he comes back out of the bathroom, which is a little disappointing, but it’s not too worrisome. Dinner is even more tense than lunch was, with the both of them sitting on opposite ends of the table and Jake keeping his feet tucked neatly under his chair as he eats, dismissing himself as soon as he’s done and going right back upstairs.

“Did you two have a fight or something?” Jade prompts, waving her fork between the two of them as Jake stalks away. “You’re both awfully stiff and gloomy today- though you’re quiet all the time, haha.” Dirk looks away, back towards where Jake’s tail disappears around the corner of the banisters, and then looks down at his half-finished plate, frowning deeply.

“Yeah. I pushed him because I got sick of him babying me and being up my ass all the time, and now he hasn’t talked to me since,” he sighs, fighting the urge to get up and follow Jake just to… well, he’s not going to beg for forgiveness, but he might say something stupid while apologizing and set him off again. Maybe something along the lines of  _ see? It’s not worth the effort trying to get close to me, so just give up. This isn’t going to work out, you only agreed to this to prevent a war.  _ “It’s not like we’re going to stay married after the king is dead, anyways, so there’s no reason for him to be close to me at all,” Dirk mutters, pushing around his food with his fork as he glowers at his food.

Jade snorts, raising a brow at him before flicking spinach off of her plate at him, smacking him straight in the forehead. “Good lord, listen to yourself! You’ve both spent the upwards of seven months together, went on several dates, met each other’s family, and went through a couple full moons  _ together.  _ Are you seriously saying that means nothing to you?” She snickers at him and rolls her eyes, only prompting Dirk to frown further in confusion. “It sure means a lot to him, you know. You’re a friend now, and you’re practically dating. Plus, on top of the fact that he genuinely cares about you, his heat is coming up, so of course he’s going to be extra clingy- especially if he’s subconsciously accepted you as a mate. That’s really important to werewolves, you know.” Jade can see the moment it sinks in for Dirk, his pointed ears drooping as the realization hits him. “Ah,” he says, thoroughly embarrassed at what he hadn’t considered yet, turning his gaze down at his plate one more as Jade laughs at him. “My bad.” 

“Don’t worry too much about it,” she grins, standing and walking over to pat him on the shoulder, “you’re still not used to having to read anyone emotionally, I bet, what with how your family acts and all. It’s okay, really, give him another hour or so before you apologize. I guarantee you’ll get one back, and then it’ll all be hunky-dory again.” As she takes his plate from him and Jake’s plate from across the table to take them from the kitchen, Dirk glances over to the head of the table, where their grandmother never sits. A single golden candle holder sits where a plate would be, the white candle’s wick burning the candle lower and lower as the wax melts, and Dirk compares his family to Jake’s. 

At the palace at Derse, everyone sits together in silence, eating what they have and getting away as soon as they can. The dining room there is painted in deep purples, grey, and silver, the atmosphere tense and oppressive. But here in Prospit, the walls are painted in a way that they look wooden, with ornate golden carvings of thousands of different plants creeping up the sides. The hallways have candle holders every few feet, but most of the time they remain empty because everyone in the royal family can see fairly well in the dark- just like Derse. 

Nearly every window is stained glass, rainbow reflections spilling onto every floor and painting the rooms in bright colors, unless the gauzy curtains are pulled over them to keep the light out. The ceilings are high, with huge ornate chandeliers casting golden light to the places that the sun can’t reach. It’s pleasantly warm within the castle walls, and some of the windows can open and allow the crisp spring air to filter through the empty hallways. Behind the throne in the foyer sits a massive fireplace that burns 24/7, the smoke contained and released through the chimney that stems up through the entire palace. 

Unlike the castle of the Striders back at Derse, the half-Harley palace actually feels welcoming, almost friendly in nature. A sudden pang hits Dirk hard enough to make him clutch at his chest- if he and Jake don’t go through with the wedding at Derse, just killing the king and returning to their old lives after it’s done, leaving Dirk to inherit the throne since he wouldn’t be married… He would have to give up Prospit. He would have to give up  _ Jake _ if they were to just go through with his original plan: host the wedding on Derse, use the party as a diversion to kill the king, and take the throne for himself and leave the Prospitians to return to their home without actually having to marry anyone. Jake would be left in the dust.

* * *

When Jake hears a knock on his door, too hesitant and soft to be Jade, he ignores it. He’s well aware that he’d been too pushy, but he still feels stung by the fact that he’d driven Dirk far enough to actually shove him away. Weren’t they close now? Why wasn’t he allowed to be concerned about his future husband? As he pouts, the handle rattles, and he sighs irritably as he remembers that he’d locked the door behind him. “Hold on, hold on, I’m coming,” he sighs, striding over to the door, unlocking it, and throwing it open. “If this is about wanting a separate room, you can have the one down the hall.”

Dirk blinks in surprise, glancing over Jake’s face and trying to figure out what’s going on. “Are you… still upset with me?” He asks, hesitant, stepping away from the door just in case it gets slammed on his face. Jake shakes his head with a huff, leaning against the doorframe and fixing Dirk with a tired stare.

“No, I’m not upset with you. I’m more upset with myself, really, because I could tell I was pushing you too hard. I wanted to be closer to you more often, and I didn’t take into consideration how you felt about it. I’m sorry for being so pushy and clingy, I didn’t mean to upset you,” he sighs again, running a hand through his hair as the other wraps securely around his ribs to comfort himself. “It’s just, I’m… I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry, too,” Dirk says, soft, and the look of surprise on Jake’s face nearly brings a small smile to his own. “I should have just talked it out with you instead of waiting around until it got too much and pushing you away. I forgive you, by the way, it’s alright. Can I come in?” Jake nods, moving aside and gesturing towards the open room for Dirk to step into. “Thanks.”

“It’s, uhm. No problem,” Jake stutters, shutting the door behind them and leaning against the door. “I forgive you, too. It’s nothing at all, really, I was more irritated that you shoved me away than the fact you wanted time alone. Besides, my heat is coming up in about a week or so, so I should be keeping my distance anyways.” He laughs nervously, his hand reflexively coming up behind his neck. He watches Dirk sit down on his bed, swallowing thickly as he struggles with the instinctive urge to get closer to the other.

“Speaking of that,” Dirk says, faking casual as he crosses his legs and watches Jake’s eyes flick down to watch, “I don’t know very much about how that works, and if I should be there to help. Full moons are difficult as it is to manage with both of us there, is it anything like that?” Jake shrugs, his eyes glued to Dirk’s thighs until he pats the bed next to him. “Come and sit down, you don’t have to stand all the way over there while we talk.”

“Okay,” Jake nods, swiftly moving over to seat himself right next to Dirk. His hands reach towards Dirk’s waist before he hesitates, glancing up to get permission and wrapping firmly around the other when he nods. As Jake nestles his head in the crook of Dirk’s neck, he sighs, and begins his lecture.

“So. Ahem. Calling it a ‘heat’ is just the quick little slang word for it. It’s part of the fertility cycle that every were-creature goes through at some point. It happens once yearly and can last from three days to a month depending on your secondary species, so mine lasts about a week and a half. I still have to carb up like a full moon, but instead of an involuntary shift that pulls hunting instincts out to the surface, it, ah… it is a fertility cycle, after all, it’s, um, really just a large period of being so painfully horny that it hurts sometimes,” he mumbles, embarrassed, and buries his face in Dirk’s shoulder.

“There are suppressants and medications that can help people speed them along, crunch through a month’s worth of heat up into a few days, but they’re targeted more towards smaller were-creatures like rabbits and rodents- people with long cycles. Everyone with shorter cycles are pretty much encouraged to get some, um,  _ toys _ to help them through it, or to get a temporary partner. It can be really exhausting for everyone involved, though, so I wouldn’t ask you to go through this with me.” As Jake talks, it’s hard for Dirk to concentrate on his words as Jake’s fingers trace lines in the soft skin of Dirk’s side under his shirt- a gentle, distracting pressure that makes Dirk close his legs tighter and clear his throat, making Jake pause.

“I think- uh. It might be fun to go through it with you,” he mutters, breathless, tilting his head back as Jake presses closer to him, Dirk’s hand moving back onto the bed to brame himself. “Uh.” Jake just hums, breathing deeply in with his mouth against Dirk’s neck, his teeth barely pressing against the vulnerable skin that Dirk had so willingly exposed to him. “Mmm. Are you sure? I can’t promise I’ll be lucid enough to perform any sort of aftercare, and, ah, you’ll have to deal with being coddled every day. You won’t get much time to yourself.”

Dirk’s throat clicks as he tries to contain the whine that had nearly come out of him as Jake’s hands spread hot and wide over his back and stomach, his breath wet and hot against his neck as Jake breathes in his scent. “I think I can manage that,” he huffs out, breathless, and he shivers as he feels Jake’s mouth shift into a smile against him, finally pulling himself away from the other to beam at him.

“Oh, that’s lovely, thank you. I’m just glad this didn’t happen during the wedding, that would have been just  _ so _ embarrassing. I do apologize in advance if I get too bitey or rough with you, just tell me to stop if it’s too much. I won’t be so far gone that I can’t ask consent, don’t you worry about that, I’ll still be able to understand you,” he says cheerily, standing up and stretching his arms over his head, humming contentedly as Dirk tries to get his head back on straight.

“Got it,” Dirk replies, a little disoriented as he shoots a thumbs up at Jake, whose smile is sharp and mischievous as he leans over to give Dirk a soft, heated kiss. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My Twitter is @sOwOrdgay if you’d like to shoot me a message or suggest things for new chapters!


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